UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA 
AT   LOS  ANGELES 


WINNING  ORATIONS 

Inter-Collegiate  Contests 
South  Dakota 


Compiled  by  O.  W.  Coursey,  Author  of: 

Literature  of  South  Dakota 
Biography  of  General  Beadle 
The  Philippines  and  Filipinos 
Biography  of  Senator  Kittredge 
The  Woman  with  a  Stone  Heart 
Who's  Who  in  South  Dakota,  Vol.  I. 
Who's  Who  in  South  Dakota,  Vol.  II. 
History  and  Geography  of  the  P.  I. 


Published  and  for  Sale  by  the 

EDUCATOR  SUPPLY  COMPANY 

Mitchell,  S.  D. 


Copyrighted 

1917 
By  0.  W.  Coursey 


cic* 

V-l 

FOREWORD 

The  Dakota  (now  South  Dakota)  Inter-Col- 
legiate Oratorical  Association  was  organized  at 
Brookings,  Dakota  Territory,  November  5,  1887. 
The  educational  institutions  originally  uniting  in  it 
were: 

(1)  The  State  University,  Vermillion. 

(2)  The  State  College,  Brookings. 

(3)  Dakota   University   (Methodist),   Mitchell. 

(4)  Yankton  College  (Congregational). 

(5)  Sioux  Falls  College  (Baptist). 

Since  that  time  the  following  schools  have 
joined: 

(6)  Redfield  College  (German  Congregational). 

(7)  Huron  College  (Presbyterian). 
Augustana   College    (Scandinavian)   at  Canton, 

was   later  admitted  to  the  Association,  but  it  re- 
tained its  membership  only  one  year. 

The  first  contest  was  held  at  Sioux  Falls  in  the 
spring  of  1888.  Dakota  University  (now  Dakota 
Wesleyan)  was  not  represented  in  this  contest,  be- 
cause this  school  had  burned  down  that  year.  Since 
then,  twenty-nine  additional  contests  have  been  held 
to  date  (1917).  On  three  occasions,  the  Orations 
that  won  second  place  in  the  State  contest,  won 
first  place  in  the  Inter-State.  This  made  it  neces- 
sary to  publish  both  of  the  Winning  Orations  for 
each  of  these  years — 1899,  1906,  1907.  The  oration 
by  Case  which  won  the  National  Peace  Contest  in 
1916,  has  also  been  added,  making  a  total  of  thirty- 
four  speeches  in  the  volume.  They  cover  a  variety 
of  subjects;  are  models  of  English  composition, 
and  seem  worthy  of  preservation. 

—THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS 


Varney,  G.  R 9 

Chase,  E.  A 15 

Clark,  Fred  21 

Shepherd,  A.  C 29 

Barrington,  J.  W 37 

Stubbins,  T.  A 45 

Locke,  Richard  F 51 

Rowell,  A.  B 57 

Ewert,  W.  F 63 

McVay,  Winifred  69 

Colton,  E.  T 77 

Rodee,  H.  A 85 

Hubbard,  Walter  (Interstate)  93 

Walton,  Jas.  A '. . .  101 

Noble,  Edith  109 

Hardy,  Clarion  117 

Bagstad,  Anna  125 

Crowther,  Jas.  E 133 

Tanner,  Burton  141 

Miles,  Lou  E 149 

Shearer,  Ralph  (Interstate)  157 

Norvell,  George  165 

Warren,  Howard  (Interstate)  173 

Dobson,  John  181 

Dobson,  James  187 

Alseth,  C.  A 195 

Leavitt,  Harvey  L 203 

Tibbetts,  Roi  B 211 

Pool,  Floyd  219 

Marble,  Sam  227 

Thomas,  Clement  235 

Nelson,  S.  P 241 

Husted,  Harold  249 

Case,  Francis   (Peace  Contest)    257 


INDEX 


Alseth,  C.  A 195 

Bagstad,  Anna  125 

Barrington,  J.  W 37 

Case,  Francis  (Peace  Contest)  257 

Chase,  E.  A 15 

Clark,  Fred  21 

Colton,  E.  T 77 

Crowther,  Jas.  E 133 

Dobson,  John  181 

Dobson,  James  187 

Ewert,  W.  F 63 

Hardy,  Clarion  . ., 117 

Hubbard,  Walter  (Interstate)  93 

Husted,  Harold  249 

Leavitt,  Harvey  L 203 

Locke,  Richard  F 51 

Marble,  Sam  227 

McVay,  Winifred  69 

Miles,  Lou  E 149 

Nelson,  S.  P 241 

Noble,  Edith  109 

Norvell,  George  165 

Pool,  Floyd 219 

Rodee,  H.  A 85 

Rowell,  A.  B 57 

Shearer,  Ralph  (Interstate)  157 

Shepherd,  A.  C 29 

Stubbins,  T.  A 45 

Tanner,  Burton  141 

Thomas,  Clement  235 

Tibbetts,  Roi  B 211 

Varney,  G.  R 9 

Walton,  Jas.  A 101 

Warren,  Howard  (Interstate)    173 


FIRST  CONTEST  (1888) 
THE  JEW 

(G.    R.    VARNEY.   SIOUX   FALLS    COLLEGE) 


Religion  is  the  foundation  of  all  history.  In 
its  upheavals  old  social  systems  have  disappeared 
and  new  ones  have  come  into  being.  From  it  have 
sprung  all  forms  of  truth  and  all  shapes  of  error. 
It  is  the  controlling  element  whether  in  the  life  of 
an  individual  or  of  a  nation.  By  it  the  past  has  been 
both  guided  and  led  astray.  To  it  the  future  with 
broader  charity  must  look  for  light. 

The  history  of  the  Aryan  race  is  an  unending 
tale  of  conquest.  With  face  toward  the  setting  sun 
it  has  marched  until  the  West  is  East  and  the 
course  of  its  victories  belts  the  earth.  But  from 
the  hills  and  plains  of  Syria  came  those,  who,  in 
the  range  of  morals  and  religion  should  conquer  even 
the  conquerors,  and  hold  over  the  modern  world  un- 
questioned sway. 

Up  to  the  period  when  the  record  of  the  Jews 
passed  from  the  sacred  narrative  their  history  is 
well  known.  They  were  contemporaries  of  Egypt, 
Chaldea  and  Troy.  As  the  chosen  people  of  God 
they  had  increased  from  the  nomad  family  of  Abra- 
ham to  a  mighty  nation.  They  had  defied  the 
Pharaohs.  The  chariots  of  Assyria  had  gone  back 
from  their  gates  humbled.  They  had  left  a  history 
luminous  with  heroic  virtues. 

But  now  they  were  a  dismembered  nation.  They 
had  crouched  under  Egyptian  whips,  and  their 
bodies  bore  the  seams  of  the  cruel  lash.  As  slaves 
they  had  built  the  palaces  of  Ninevah,  and  their 
limbs  were  galled  by  chains.  In  entering  the  further 
conflict  of  races  they  were  but  despicable  opponents. 
Thus  thought  the  sons  of  the  captains  of  Alexander, 


10  WINNING  ORATIONS 

and  they  dragged  them  beneath  the  harrow  of  in- 
vasion. So  thought  the  proud  Caesars,  and  the 
Roman  eagle  darkened  with  his  wings  their  sky  and 
brought  them  into  servitude.  Their  freedom  had 
been  for  many  years  lost,  when  at  Bethlehem  the 
Greatest  of  the  Jews  was  born.  Him  they  crucified. 
This  was  their  fatal  error.  Again  and  again  they 
had  defied  disaster  and  outlived  defeat.  But  now 
there  were  to  be  heaped  against  them  the  curses 
of  a  relentless  hate.  From  the  cross  upon  which 
the  lowly  Disturber  of  the  peace  had  died  there 
went  forth  teachings  which  should  render  immortal 
their  Jerusalem,  their  Jordan,  their  Bethany,  their 
Mount  of  Olives,  and  "whose  leaves  should  be  for 
the  healing  of  the  nations."  But  for  the  Jews,  these 
teachings,  through  the  perversions  of  a  misguided 
zeal,  were  to  spring  up  into  a  harvest  of  woe. 

In  the  year  70,  A.  D.,  the  fall  of  Jerusalem 
drove  the  entire  Jewish  nation  from  its  home. 
Slowly,  with  broken  hearts  they  went  out  in  the 
darkness.  The  world  was  broad,  but  it  afforded  them 
no  resting  place.  The  gates  of  every  city  were 
closed  against  them,  and  the  bitter  cry  "Anathema 
Maranatha"  now  hurled  back  upon  them  forbade 
their  entrance.  They  became  scattered  throughout 
all  Europe.  Some  at  length  found  a  home  in  Spain 
with  the  infidel  Moors.  But  with  the  decline  of 
Moslem  authority  their  persecutions  were  renewed 
with  increased  bitterness.  And  finally,  when  the 
land  had  become  almost  as  dear  to  them  as  their 
own  Canaan,  by  a  decree  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
they  were  driven  out.  Along  ways  steep  and  rough, 
bearing  the  ashes  of  their  kindred,  they  fled  again 
from  Christian  into  Pagan  lands,  and  under  the 
sway  of  the  Sultans  of  the  East  they  sought  and 
found  that  charity  which  Christian  Europe  had  de- 
nied. They  were  expelled  from  Portugal  and  were 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  11 

obliged  to  leave  their  children  in  the  hands  of  their 
persecutors,  until  in  despair  mothers  threw  their 
babes  into  the  rivers  and  killed  themselves.  The 
story  is  everywhere  the  same.  In  the  sunless  dun- 
geons of  France,  in  the  gloomy  prisons  of  the  Rhine, 
in  the  trackless  forests  of  Russia  the  Jew  was 
clutched  like  a  wild  beast  and  slain  without  mercy: — 
and  all  this  in  the  name  of  Him  who  died  praying 
"Father  forgive  them;  for  they  know  not  what  they 
do." 

In  the  times  when  religious  zeal  was  strongest, 
when  nations  were  arousing  themselves  to  rescue 
the  Holy  Sepulcher  from  dishonor,  then  the  fagots 
were  heaped  highest  about  the  Jew,  and  human  in- 
genuity was  exhausted  in  devising  instruments  of 
torture.  Men  and  women  of  all  ages,  the  most 
saintly  and  chivalrous,  deemed  it  a  virture  to  perse- 
cute them.  They  were  expatriated  by  every  gov- 
ernment in  Europe.  The  Magna  Charta,  which 
raised  the  first  bulwark  of  civil  liberty  in  England, 
contained  a  clause  which  drove  the  Jews  beyond  the 
borders  of  the  British  Isles.  Even  the  most  ardent 
champions  of  religious  freedom  had  no  regard  for 
them.  Luther  despised  them,  and  the  followers  of 
Cromwell  forgot  them  in  their  prayers.  But  in  spite 
of  fire  and  sword  and  dungeon,  through  ages  of 
barbaric  cruelty,  the  intellectual  and  moral  vigor 
of  the  race  persisted  and  survived.  Their  thinkers 
stood  upon  the  heights;  and  when  the  night  had 
passed,  upon  the  forehead  of  the  Jew,  Maimonides, 
there  fell  the  first  clear  rays  of  dawn. 

Though  decimated  in  number  the  Jews  emerged 
from  the  Middle  Ages  with  their  national  faith  un- 
shaken. They  had  clung  with  tenacious  hold  to  the 
old  Judaic  standards.  When  no  longer  able  to  forti- 
fy their  loved  city  they  had  raised  their  law  like 
an  impregnable  fortress,  and  not  one  jot  or  tittle  had 


12  WINNING  ORATIONS 

passed  from  it.    They  had  remained,  moreover,  pure 
in  blood  and  with  the   strong   lineaments   of   their 
race  unchanged.     But  it  is  not  strange  that  their 
rough  contact  with  the  Gentile  world  had  left  its 
impress  upon  them.     The  enforced  employments  of 
fifteen    hundred    years    had   ingrafted   other   traits 
than  those  which  they  had  borne  with  them  from 
Jerusalem.     In   Palestine  they  had  been   a  race  of 
husbandmen.      Through    their    industry    and    thrift 
Judea  had  become  as  fertile  as  a  garden.    In  Europe 
they  became  a  race  of  brokers.    Why?     Not,  as  was 
now  charged  against  them,  because  the  Jew  chose 
to  live  by  means  of  graft  instead  of  labor.     But  be- 
cause as  often  as  he  had  turned  himself  to  other 
pursuits  his  lands  had  been  confiscated,  his  harvests 
burned  and  all  the  labor  of  his  hands  destroyed  by 
his  merciless  oppressors.     The  Jews  became  usurers 
not  from  choice  but  from  necessity.    If  they  secreted 
their  wealth  it  was  to  hide  it  from  the  plunderer. 
If  they   became   at   length   greedy   in   their  money 
lending  it  was  because  every  avenue  had  been  closed 
to  them  except  the  one  sordid  channel.     But  they 
were  changed  for  the  worse  in  other  ways  than  this. 
In  the  olden  times  the  Hebrew's  soul  was  as  open 
as  his  sky,  his  brow  was  unclouded,  his  face  wore 
the  sunlight  of  an  infinite  trust  and  love.     He  came 
from  the  persecutions  of  the  Middle  Ages  suspici- 
ous, revengeful,  hissing  the  curses  of  a  measureless 
contempt.    He  had  learned  to  meet  scorn  with  scorn, 
revenge  with  revenge.    But  shall  we  count  it  strange 
that  the  Jew,  in  obedience  to  his  precept,  "an  eye 
for  an  eye  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,"  took,  when  he 
could,  stern  vengeance  upon  his  foes,  and  forget  that 
the  Christian,  enjoined  to  love  his   enemies,  outdid 
him  a  thousand  fold  in  deeds  of  cruelty? 

In  the  Jew  of  the  Sixteenth  Century  there  was 
but  little  to  admire.    For  ages  famine  and  the  sword 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  13 

had  done  their  worst  upon  it,  and  now  the  sym- 
metry of  the  old  Hebrew  character  was,  for  the 
greater  part,  destroyed.  It  had  refused  to  perish 
utterly.  But  like  the  mountain  pines  which  grow 
upon  the  craps  and  persist  in  spite  of  storms,  it  re- 
tained no  element  of  beauty  except  its  strength. 
Notwithstanding  these  facts  the  Christian  world  has, 
in  modem  times,  held  the  Jewish  race  to  a  strict 
account  for  those  faults  of  character  which  were 
developed  by  its  own  injustice. 

When,  after  four  centuries  of  banishment,  the 
Jews  were  allowed  to  re-enter  England,  and  when, 
in  turn,  the  other  governments  of  Europe  had  given 
them  free  access  beyond  their  borders,  when  they 
had  done  with  the  baser  forms  of  cruelty,  a  torture 
not  less  keen,  though  more  refined,  awaited  them. 
They  were  allowed  to  re-enter  England.  Bow  how? 
As  social  outcasts;  as  beings  despised  and  hated; 
from  whom  the  Gentile  race  should  draw  back  its 
skirts  in  disdainful  pride.  This  prejudice  has  stub- 
bornly survived  even  to  the  present  time.  But 
though  often  well  grounded  in  a  narrow  sense  it 
cannot  be  justified  in  a  broader  view.  To  the  proud 
nature  of  the  Jew  this  humiliation  was  at  first  deep 
and  bitter.  But  he  was  content  to  bide  his  time. 
He  could  force  an  unwilling  recognition.  Once  free 
to  act,  the  strength  and  versatility  of  the  Hebrew 
mind  began  to  assert  themselves,  and  gradually  rose 
into  prominence.  And  when  the  wit  of  Heine  had 
made  all  Europe  hold  its  sides,  when  the  name  of 
Mendelssohn  had  been  written  beside  that  of 
Beethoven,  when  in  philosophy  the  name  of  Spinoza 
had  been  enrolled  above  all  others,  when  Castelar 
at  the  head  of  the  Republicans  in  Spain  had  won  the 
only  real  victory  they  had  ever  gained,  when  Lasker 
had  torn  the  mask  from  German  despotism,  when 
the  will  of  Gambetta  had  become  sovereign  in 


14  WINNING  ORATIONS 

France,  and  when  at  last  after  years  of  striving 
Disraeli  waved  his  salute  to  England  from  his  place 
beside  her  throne,  then  the  world  returned  the 
salutation  and  paid  its  tardy  homage  to  the  Jew. 

The  Hebrew  race,  remarkable  from  whatever 
point  of  view,  holds  a  place  in  history  above  all 
others.  Its  services  to  this  world  cannot  be  meas- 
ured and  should  not  be  denied.  If  there  are  present 
causes  of  grievance,  let  it  not  be  forgotten  that 
two  centuries  cannot  undo  the  work  of  a  thousand 
years.  Let  it  not  be  forgotten  that  this  present  age, 
which  in  spite  of  its  so-called  liberalism  is  more 
deeply  religious  than  any  other,  owes,  under  Divine 
guidance,  to  the  Hebrew  race,  the  faith  upon  which 
it  rests.  And  let  the  hope  which  was  Disraeli's  be 
shared  by  all; — that  in  a  higher  sense  than  they 
have  dreamed  the  Zion  of  the  Jews  shall  be  restored, 
and  that  in  that  starlit  temple,  greater  than  the  one 
of  old,  on  a  plane  radiant  with  truth,  Jew  and  Gentile 
shall  bow  together  before  their  King,  whose  mantle 
of  charity  must  cover  all. 


SECOND  CONTEST  (1899) 
THE  PURSUIT  OF  WEALTH 

(E.   A.   CHASE,   YANKTON   COLLEGE) 

When  the  early  colonists  left  their  native  land, 
they  left,  also,  their  love  of  military  life  and  glory. 
They  sought  this  new  world  for  the  happiness  of 
liberty  and  peaceful  pursuits. 

Here,  where  the  disturbing  element  of  war 
could  not  often  appear,  where  the  chief  thought 
was  for  the  individual,  it  seemed  that  a  bright  day 
of  prosperity  had  dawned.  Webster,  catching  the 
glories  of  the  new  morn  fast  breaking,  was  inspired 
to  exclaim:  "There  is  for  us  a  noble  pursuit  to 
which  the  spirit  of  the  time  strongly  invites  us. 
Our  proper  business  is  improvement  Let  our  age 
be  an  age  of  improvement;  in  a  day  of  peace  let 
us  advance  the  arts  of  peace.  Let  us  develop  the 
resources  of  our  land,  call  forth  its  powers,  build 
up  its  institutions,  promote  all  its  great  interests." 

The  sound  of  these  words  seemed  to  vibrate 
throughout  the  land.  With  a  mighty  throb  of  life 
the  nation  springs  forward  to  grasp  the  wonderful 
opportunities.  The  keen  axe  hews  the  majestic 
forests  into  magnificent  structures.  The  pick  and 
bar  unlock  the  hidden  stores.  The  steel  points  plow 
their  way  through  the  vast  prairies,  and  turn  the 
sod-covered  surface  into  rich  fields.  The  mighty 
Rockies  resound  with  the  heavy  thud  of  the  ponder- 
ous stamp  crushing  out  the  glittering  gold.  There 
remains  scarcely  place  or  substance  that  has  not 
yielded  something  to  this  new  industrial  world.  All 
this  men  have  done.  But  what  has  all  this  done 
for  them  in  return?  In  a  day  of  peace  they  have 
called  forth  the  powers  of  nature  and  built  up  great 
industries. 


16  WINNING  ORATIONS 

But  these  pursuits  have  recast  the  nation's 
thought  in  molds  of  gold.  The  simple  purpose  of 
providing  the  necessities  of  life  has  been  over- 
shadowed by  a  great  passion  for  wealth.  Amidst 
the  rapid  whirl  in  factory  and  mill,  in  the  crowded 
square  of  the  market,  in  the  ceaseless  hurry  of  the 
farm,  this  burning  passion  is  ever  felt.  Question 
the  youth,  with  books  in  hand,  behind  the  counter, 
at  the  bench,  or  wherever  he  may  be  preparing  for 
life,  as  to  his  thought  of  success,  and  seldom  will 
it  be  other  than  the  making  of  money.  But  is  it 
strange?  If  his  home  is  on  the  farm  he  hears 
chiefly  of  "hard  times,"  and  what  will  pay;  if  in  the 
city,  incessant  talk  of  business  and  speculation.  If 
he  asks  advice,  little  will  he  receive  that  does  not 
bear  on  the  prospect  of  wealth.  The  saving  boy, 
he  is  told,  is  the  youth  of  promise;  the  successful 
business  men,  the  valuable  citizen;  the  millionaire 
the  one  who  has  reached  the  goal  of  life.  The  cur- 
rent expression,  "When  I  am  rich,"  though  often 
uttered  lightly,  yet  expresses  the  fond  hope  of  every 
heart.  Certainly  the  pursuit  of  money  has  been 
the  path  of  this  nation. 

Is  it  the  true  path?  For  some  divine  reason 
this  existence  must  be  sustained  by  the  fruits  of 
labor.  Hence,  vigorous  industry  is  good  for  the 
maintenance  of  existence,  but  should  the  wealth  ac- 
cruing from  industry  be  the  prize  for  which  this 
earthly  race  is  run? 

Is  that  life? 

Is  that  the  inevitable  amount  of  man's  hope 
and  aspirations? 

Was  the  highest  mechanism  of  God's  handiwork 
to  create  beings  of  no  nobler  purpose?  Was  human- 
ity fashioned  in  Hissown  image  only  to  minister  to 
the  temple  of  that  image?  Was  the  spirit  of  life 
breathed  into  these  forms  of  clay  only  to  heap  up 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  17 

and  worship  inanimate  piles  of  dust?  Let  us  con- 
sider a  little,  if  we  may,  the  nature  of  this  much 
coveted  boon.  Toil  is  the  only  exchange  for  which 
earth  yields  up  her  fruits.  If  that  price  is  refused, 
her  store-house  is  locked.  As  the  Persian  drove  his 
warriors  into  battle  by  the  lash,  so  grim  necessity 
whips  the  laborer  to  his  drudgery. 

The  real  wealth  of  the  world  is  its  supply  of 
the  necessities  of  life.  Being  subject  to  Nature's 
economic  laws,  which  permit  production  of  but  little 
more  than  the  required  amount  for  each  year,  and 
take  back  by  decay  the  surplus,  no  great  amount  of 
real  wealth  can  ever  be  accumulated.  Do  they  who 
pride  themselves  on  their  riches  never  realize  the 
vanity  of  their  possessions?  Let  your  precious 
metals,  your  railroads,  factories,  massive  buildings, 
and  speculative  stocks  be  so  increased  that  every 
one  might  count  himself  a  millionaire.  In  the 
ecstasy  of  sudden  wealth  labor  would  be  ignored.  A 
season's  harvest  would  be  neglected.  Poverty  in  its 
most  wretched  garb,  starvation,  would  appear.  Then 
railroads  would  lie  unused;  factories  cease  their 
busy  whirl;  brick  blocks  crumble  from  neglect,  gold 
and  silver  be  flung  away;  the  world  of  millionaires 
divest  itself  of  costly  garments  and  resume  its  dig- 
ging- 

Tis  a  fancy,  this  hope  of  wealth,  this  dream  of 
luxury.  Before  the  stem  truths  of  life  it  vanishes 
like  the  rain-bow  from  the  heavens  before  the  shade 
of  night  For  a  brief  moment  in  the  long  and 
gloomy  day  of  the  world's  history  the  golden  sun 
has  broken  forth  from  the  clouds  of  tyranny  and 
war,  and  shone  out  from  the  clear  sky  of  peace — 
its  bright  rays  reflected  from  the  new  industries, 
glisten  and  sparkle,  forming  a  beautiful  rain-bow 
in  the  heaven  of  hope.  The  eyes  of  men  were 
dazzled  by  the  splendor  of  the  scene  of  luxury.  In 


18  WINNING  ORATIONS 

childish  illustration  they  went  in  search  of  the 
fancy.  They  knew  not,  and  seemed,  not  yet  fully 
to  understand,  that  where  this  enchanting  vision  of 
idle  comfort  in  its  graceful  curve  seems  to  reach 
down  to  earth  is  not  a  place,  but,  a  deceptive  image 
of  the  mind.  Still  they  pursue  that  image,  and 
as  it  grows  dim  before  them,  they  do  not  see  the 
threatening  clouds  of  greed  and  contention  rising 
on  the  horizon  of  peace,  shutting  them  out  from 
the  object  of  their  journey.  They  stop  and  chide 
one  another  with  leading  in  the  wrong  way. 

As  the  shades  of  greed  and  poverty  deepened, 
the  bright  hope  of  universal  comfort  faded  into  a 
homely  struggle  for  existence.  Out  of  this  struggle 
has  arisen  something  known  as  wealth,  or  capital. 
It  is  the  power  which  controls  labor  and  governs 
the  distribution  of  supplies.  Capital  is  a  good 
thing.  It  is  to  the  nation  what  tools  are  to  the 
farmer.  But  the  value  of  machinery  depends  on 
its  right  use,  and  so  does  the  value  of  capital,  and 
when  it  is  used,  as  it  now  is  to  a  great  extent,  for 
creating  artificial  needs,  and  producing  useless 
supplies  to  fill  this  perverted  demand,  and  then,  not 
satisfied  with  not  filling  the  demand,  employs  thou- 
sands of  men  to  crowd  through  the  market  as  much 
more  as  possible  of  unneeded  and  worthless  articles 
of  trade,  simply  to  gather  more  capital,  to  erect 
more  machinery,  to  make  more  such  articles,  to 
support  more  men  in  mischievous  employment,  then, 
indeed,  capital  becomes  one  of  the  most  grievous 
causes  of  poverty  in  a  nation. 

It  has  no  value  except  as  it  is  brought  into  con- 
tact with  legitimate  production  and  distribution. 

Do  you  attribute  to  capital  the  advance  in  the 
scale  of  comfort  which  America  has  enjoyed?  It 
is  not  in  this  that  the  nation  has  found  its  relief 
from  poverty.  But  in  the  vast  domain— a  broad 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  19 

avenue  of  escape  for  the  poor.  But  the  limit  is  not 
distant.  It  stands  before  us  like  a  great  black  wall. 
The  west  is  filling.  The  east  groans  under  her 
burden.  She  no  longer  has  place  to  send  her  poor. 
What  relief  comes  from  capital.  Where  it  stands 
in  pyramids  of  wealth,  monuments  to  the  industry 
of  a  nation,  there  about  the  basis  of  those  pyramids 
skulk  the  hungry  poor;  and  the  higher  those  monu- 
ments rise  the  darker  is  the  shade  of  poverty  cast 
about  them. 

This  love  of  gain,  this  "mad  haste,"  to  be  rich, 
this  establishment  of  a  false  purpose  of  life,  is 
fruitful  of  much  harm.  It  depreciates  life,  denies 
the  claims  of  mind  and  body,  ignores  the  existence 
of  the  soul,  and  breeds  discontent  by  placing  success 
hopelessly  beyond  all  but  a  few.  On  the  struggling 
masses  of  humanity  hope  and  ambition  turn  back  in 
mockery.  In  sullen  silence  they  bear  their  poorer 
condition,  or,  angered  by  the  pride  of  the  more 
successful,  they  rebel  against  all  wealth,  all  capital. 

We  reverence  no  crown,  but  to  the  ill-gotten 
crown  of  gold  we  pay  as  much  homage  as  was  ever 
shown  to  the  iron  crown  of  the  Lombards. 

We  are  free  and  safe  to  go  where  we  will. 
But  feudal  lords  of  wealth,  from  their  castles  of 
monopoly,  prowl  forth  to  plunder  and  to  rob. 

We  have  peace.  The  sword  is  laid  aside.  But, 
armed  with  the  keen  scimiter  of  business  skill,  men 
engage  in  cruel  and  fearless  war. 

We  have  liberty.  But  the  glad  shout  of  free- 
dom is  set  at  discord  by  the  harsh  notes  of  anarchy. 

But  Hark!  Beside  the  din  of  grating  sounds 
from  money-getting,  come  softer  strains.  Listen, 
and  you  may  catch  the  words  of  this  new  song! 
'Tis  of  love,  this  joyous  note.  Love  shown  and  ex- 
tended through  the  medium  of  wealth.  It  is  a  song 


20  WINNING  ORATIONS 

that  turns  the  heart's  desire  from  selfish  hoarding 
to  kind  impulses  of  charity. 

Under  its  influence,  men  gifted  with  superior 
business  talents  will  yield  to  the  less  gifted  the 
benefits  of  their  greater  powers.  They  will  acknowl- 
edge these  special  powers  granted  to  them  as  calls 
of  God  to  minister  to  His  less  favored  children  with 
the  wealth  which  he  has  placed  here  for  them.  The 
laborer  will  have  no  more  reason  for  complaint  of 
his  employer,  but  will  join  in  this  song,  singing 
praise  of  him  who  lives  and  gives  his  life  that  the 
laborer's  lot  may  be  lighter. 

Then  this  great  America,  with  its  bright  skies 
and  clear  waters,  fertile  fields  and  noble  forests, 
lofty  mountains  and  verdant  valleys,  a  land  filled 
with  the  beauties  of  nature  and  the  rich  treas- 
ures of  earth,  overflowing  with  abundance  of  good 
gifts,  spread  out  in  all  the  elegance  and  luxury  of 
a  kingly  banquet,  may  indeed  be  called  the  home  of 
the  poor  and  friendless,  the  refuge  of  the  oppressed 
of  every  nation. 

Not  yet  have  many  learned  the  beauties  of  this 
new  song  of  love.  But  the  key  note  has  been 
sounded.  May  it  awaken  response  till  it  has  softened 
the  greed  of  every  soul  in  charity,  and  the  whole 
land  is  resonant  with  its  happy  sound.  May  it  be  a 
grand  chorus  sung  by  the  whole  nation,  till  it  will 
seem  that  the  beautiful  refrain  of  angels  has  been 
taken  up,  "On  earth  peace,  good  will  toward  men." 


THIRD  CONTEST    (1890) 
THE  PROBLEM  OF  THE  CENTURY 

(FRED  H.  CLARK.  DAKOTA  UNIVERSITY) 


History,  as  it  stands  outlined  against  the  dark 
background  of  time,  presents  the  picture  of  a  vast 
mountain  range. 

The  plain  of  each  century  has  been  broken  by 
some  gigantic  issue;  some  mighty  upheaval  in  the 
common  course  of  events,  which  towers  like  a  rugged 
peak,  far  above  the  minor  circumstances  that  sur- 
round it,  distinguishing  the  age  in  which  it  occurs. 

From  the  present,  back  to  where  obscurity  shuts 
out  the  light  of  ages  from  history's  winding  course, 
we  see  these  massive  monuments  upreared  to  the 
race;  these  great  landmarks  in  the  march  of  time, 
which  seem  to  draw  toward  them  both  the  precedent 
and  subsequent  events,  and  make  themselves  the 
centers  of  their  respective  ages. 

The  fifth  century  saw  the  Roman  Empire  fall, 
scattering  its  embers  over  darkened  Europe,  where 
they  smoldered  for  a  thousand  years  until  kindled 
into  a  flame  that  spread  throughout  the  world. 

The  fifteenth  century  saw  the  dawn  of  a  new 
day  break  upon  the  nations,  and  dispel  the  long 
night  of  a  thousand  years. 

Columbus,  crossing  the  awful  sea  about  which 
had  gathered  the  fear  and  superstition  of  four 
thousand  years,  threw  open  the  gates  of  a  new 
Eden. 

The  sixteenth  century  felt  the  world  tremble 
under  the  colossal  tread  of  the  Reformation. 

The  nineteenth  century  has  been  crowded  with 
circumstances  of  great  moment;  unprecedented  has 
been  the  progress  of  science;  discovery  and  inven- 


22  WINNING  ORATIONS 

tion  have  belted  the  globe;  vast  empires  have  fallen 
and  mightier  ones  arisen;  and  now  to  close  this 
golden  era,  a  fitting  crown  for  such  an  age,  comes 
its  grandest  event;  penetrated  is  the  heart  of  Africa, 
and  Henry  M.  Stanley  opens  to  development  a 
new  colossal  realm. 

Westward  the  mighty  waves  of  emigration  that 
have  swept  over  the  old  world  since  man  began  his 
march  around  the  globe,  seem  ever  to  have  rolled; 
surging  past  dark  Africa,  on  toward  the  settting 
sun. 

The  vast  hordes  that  have  swarmed  back  and 
forth  across  Europe,  touched  the  north  of  the  con- 
tinent only,  and  left  unknown  this  land  of  eternal 
summer,  this  far-off  sunny  clime. 

In  the  brilliant  days  of  the  old  Augustan  age, 
the  Roman  generals  led  their  unconquered  phalanx 
across  the  Mediterranean  to  subdue  the  great  un- 
known, but  reaching  the  desert  they  were  dis- 
heartened by  the  burning  waste  that  lay  before 
them,  and  returning  erected  here  and  there  massive 
structures,  which  stand  today  as  monuments  of  the 
tremendous  failure. 

Thus  one  after  another  the  ancient  and  mediae- 
val nations  feebly  essayed  to  penetrate  the  mys- 
teries that  shrouded  the  Ethiopian  kingdom,  until 
at  last  the  daring  Portugese  circumnavigated  Africa 
and  fixed  is  boundaries. 

This  stupendous  task  accomplished,  explorers 
flocked  on  every  side,  like  a  vast  army  surrounding 
a  fortress,  and  the  attack  on  the  center  was  begun. 

From  the  west,  Park  explored  the  wonderful 
region  of  the  Niger,  and  in  attempting  to  follow  its 
terrible  flood  to  the  sea,  lost  his  life. 

Lacreda,  striking  at  the  southeastern  forests, 
cut  his  way  in  to  the  capital  of  the  African  King, 
where  disease  struck  him  down. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  23 

Thus,  from  time  to  time,  these  great  discoverers 
attacked  the  impregnable  battlements  of  the  un- 
known land  on  every  side,  and  died  while  bravely 
pushing  on  to  open  to  the  world  the  unseen  treas- 
ures that  lay  hidden  in  its  heart. 

'Twas  in  the  midst  of  these  uncertainties  and 
discouragements  that  Stanley  began  his  work,  and 
opened  one  of  the  grandest  campaigns  known  to 
history. 

The  immortal  Livingstone  had  discovered  the 
great  lacustrine  system  whose  outlet  is  the  Lualaba; 
a  tremendous  flood  that  every  second  pours  a  hun- 
dred thousand  cubic  feet  of  water  into  something? 
Stanley  was  determined  to  find  out  what;  and  re- 
solved to  follow  it  to  whatever  sea  or  ocean  it 
might  lead. 

The  storied  voyages  of  Marquette  and  Joliet  on 
the  Mississippi,  and  of  Orellana  on  the  Amazon, 
sink  into  insignificance,  when  compared  with  this 
herculean  task. 

On  through  the  treacherous  whirlpools  and 
over  the  roaring  cataracts  of  the  great  stream; 
often  compelled  to  hew  their  way  through  the  dense 
forests  that  bounded  them  like  a  wall  on  either 
hand;  through  showers  of  poisoned  arrows;  through 
disease,  through  death;  for  a  thousand  days  save 
one,  the  heroic  little  army  wandered  in  the  heart 
of  the  unknown  land;  the  sparkling  waters  beckon- 
ing on  they  knew  not  where.  No  sound  came  to 
betray  the  name  of  this  vast  shining  river  whose 
roaring  torrents  bore  them  on. 

Discouraged,  reduced  in  numbers,  the  little  band 
would  fain  have  turned  back.  But  one  dark  day 
the  old  Arab  chief,  recognizing  some  landmark,  re- 
turned the  answer,  "Ikuta  ya  Kongo." 

Never  did  "Vive  '1  Empereur"  more  inspire 
Napoleon's  glittering  troops  than  did  this  trium- 


24  WINNING  ORATIONS 

phant  shout  thrill  the  hearts  of  these  weary  pil- 
grims alone  in  the  Dark  Continent's  heart.  Press- 
ing on,  they  safely  reached  the  sea.  Livingstone's 
Lualaba  was  connected  with  Tuckey's  Congo,  and 
the  shout  of  the  old  Mohammedan  chief  rang 
throughout  the  civilized  world. 

Far  to  the  south  of  the  well-nigh  boundless 
Congo  forests  lies  a  lovely  land,  with  a  sky  as  soft 
and  a  climate  as  perfect  as  balmy  Italy.  Vast 
fields  of  gold  and  diamonds  glitter  in  the  tropic 
sun. 

"Whatever  fruits  in  different  climes  are  found, 
That  proudly  rise  or  humbly  court  the  ground, 
Whatever   sweets   salute   the   northern   sky. 
With    vernal   lives   that   blossom    but  to   die; 
These  here  disporting  own  the  kindred  soil, 
Nor  ask   luxuriance  from   the  planter's   toil, 
Yes,   vernal   beauty   reigns   supreme." 

But  why  has  the  creator  for  centuries  concealed 
this  beautiful  garden  in  the  heart  of  a  hidden  realm; 
withholding  it  from  the  sight  of  enlightened  man! 

'Twas  the  hand  of  the  Omnipotent,  working 
out  a  mighty  problem  that  it  took  four  hundred 
years  to  solve. 

For  centuries  explorers  nibbled,  as  it  were,  at 
the  coast  of  Africa.  For  centuries  the  nations 
hurled  their  forces  on  its  impregnable  sides. 

Hundreds  of  brave  adventurers  vainly  essayed 
to  solve  its  mysteries,  and  left  their  bones  to  bleach 
upon  its  burning  sands. 

But  you  ask,  if  this  was  the  hand  of  God,  why 
did  he  permit  this  sacrifice?  For  answer,  why  did 
he  permit  his  chosen  people  to  languish  under  the 
lash  of  Egyptian  bondage  for  four  hundred  years? 
Why  did  he  not  send  the  Christ  in  the  brilliant  days 
of  the  Babylonian  kingdom;  or  later  in  the  golden 
age  of  Greece?  The  fullness  of  time  was  not  yet 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  2& 

come.  God  was  not  ready  and  the  world  must 
wait. 

Going  back  along  the  path  of  history  to  the 
close  of  the '  Middle  Ages,  we  see  the  Portugese 
throwing  the  inhabitants  of  western  Africa  into 
slavery,  and  later  selling  them  to  the  pioneers  of 
our  own  country,  by  whom  they  were  held  in  servi- 
tude until  their  emancipation  in  1863. 

We  as  Americans  look  upon  these  three  centur- 
ies as  a  dark  period  in  the  history  of  the  Negro; 
and  yet  'twas  the  dawn  of  his  day.  For,  had  not 
the  African  been  taken  from  his  southern  shore, 
he  would  have  been  as  savage  as  his  brethren  in  the 
Dark  Continent  are  today;  and  if  taken  from  his 
native  wildness  and  brought  to  the  land  of  civiliza- 
tion, he  must  be  controlled  before  he  could  be 
taught. 

You  say  America  has  cursed  the  black  man; 
but  show  me  a  nation  that  has  done  more  for  his 
race  than  has  she.  The  centuries  of  servitude  that 
the  African  has  endured  have  transformed  him — 
from  savage  to  man.  Brought  in  contact  with  civil- 
ization, the  light  of  reason  slowly  dawned  upon  his 
slumbering  intellect,  and  as  the  years  wore  on,  he 
gradually  became,  as  far  as  circumstances  would 
permit,  the  equal  of  his  master.  In  1860  the  people 
of  the  north,  recognizing  his  right,  turned  and  with 
one  terrible  blow,  shattered  his  fetters  and  made 
him  free. 

Investing  the  slave  with  every  right  that  was 
his  master's,  gave  rise  to  a  jealousy  and  hatred  be- 
tween the  races,  which  we  first  see  in  the  Ku  Klux; 
sitting  like  a  spectre  in  the  moonlight  before  some 
lonely  cabin,  while  the  horrified  Negro  looks  upon 
him  as  the  Celestial  looks  upon  his  god;  or,  we  see 
him  creeping  upon  the  home  of  some  unionist,  like 
a  fox  upon  his  prey;  dragging  him  from  his  couch 


26  WINNING  ORATIONS 

and  leaving  him  bound  and  bleeding  with  none  but 
the  stars  to  watch  his  suffering. 

Though  the  iron  hand  of  the  law  could  check 
such  deeds  as  these,  it  could  not  quench  the  fire  of 
hatred  between  the  races,  and  the  terrible  strife 
has  been  growing  ever  since  the  emancipation  of 
the  slaves.  The  color  of  the  Negro's  skin  is  an 
eternal  bar  from  the  society  of  the  whites;  murder 
and  outrage  stalk  abroad  in  our  land  today  as  a 
result  of  this  unnatural  mingling,  and  at  last  the 
people  in  their  despair  cry  out,  "the  race  problem 
must  be  solved." 

Right  here  is  the  grandest  coincidence  in  the 
history  of  nations.  Just  at  this  crisis  Almighty 
God  solves  the  problem;  throws  open  the  portals 
of  the  wonderland  in  Africa  that  have  been  sealed 
since  the  beginning  of  time;  discloses  a  colossal 
realm  where  roam  a  hundred  million  souls,  shrouded 
in  the  darkness  of  barbarism.  The  Dark  Continent 
must  have  light,  and  here  in  America  he  has  been 
preparing  eight  million  tutors  of  their  own  blood 
to  civilize  and  Christianize  this  savage  horde. 

Call  it  circumstance;  a  mere  coincidence;  call 
it  what  you  will.  I  believe  it  the  design  of  the 
Omniscient  one  that  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1890, 
Africa  should  burst  her  iron  doors  and  send  forth 
to  the  world  an  appeal  for  help  for  her  people  in 
darkness.  That  in  this  same  year  the  crisis  should 
be  reached  in  the  race  war,  and  America  send  her 
eight  million  Negroes  back  to  their  native  shore  to 
impart  to  their  brethren  the  light  for  which  they 
plead. 

You  say  the  cost  will  be  enormous.  Will  you 
pay  it  from  the  overflowing  coffers  of  your  treasury, 
or  will  you  pay  the  price  in  blood? 

Eight  million  Negroes  inhabit  your  land  today, 
invested  with  every  right  that  you  enjoy,  yet  barred 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  27 

forever  from  your  society  by  the  blood  that  courses 
through  their  veins.  Their  number  is  increasing 
year  by  year.  Must  a  crisis  be  reached  where  the 
sword  shall  take  the  place  of  the  dagger,  and  our 
fair  land  be  convulsed  by  a  war  with  the  race  for 
whose  freedom  we  have  just  sacrificed  three  hundred 
thousand  lives? 

The  amalgamation  of  the  races  is  a  solution 
than  which  nothing  can  be  more  horrible.  It  will 
elevate  the  Negro,  but  it  will  debase  the  race  that 
has  made  the  world  progressive  and  glorious.  This 
natural  distinction  between  the  Anglo-Saxon  and 
the  African  is  divinely  drawn.  God  and  nature  de- 
mand that  it  be  kept  inviolate;  and  yet  amalgama- 
tion is  the  only  road  to  peace  save  colonization. 

When  this  migration  of  the  black  man  to  his 
native  land  shall  be  accomplished,  Africa  will  pour 
her  riches  into  the  markets  of  the  world;  these 
savage  races  shall  be  elevated  to  the  plain  of  civil- 
ized nations;  the  worship  of  the  Fetich  shall  be 
superseded  by  the  worship  of  the  true  God;  and 
God  shall  have  justified  his  ways  to  man. 

Then  this  stupendous  question  with  which 
America  grapples  today  shall  be  settled,  settled  right 
and  settled  forever. 

Through  the  mists  of  strife  that  envelope  us 
we  shall  see  the  dawn  of  a  better  day.  When  the 
southern  zephyrs  shall  bring  a  cry  for  light  from 
the  Dark  Continent,  America  shall  send  back  the 
answer,  sweeping  like  a  mighty  wave  across  the 


28  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Atlantic,  "We  are  coming,  'nighted  brethren,  eight 
thousand  thousand  strong."  America  will  be  free, 
and  Africa  saved.  And  the  shout  shall  ring  through- 
out the  nations  to  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth; 
and  the  listening  angel  shall  bear  the  glad  news 
upward  where  unnumbered  millions  sing  in  realms 
of  endless  bliss,  and  the  mighty  chorus  shall  echo 
'round  the  throne  of  God,  from  which  shall  shine 
the  light  to  illumine  the  path  to  freedom  for  a 
hundred  million  souls. 


FOURTH  CONTEST  (1891) 
THE  INDIAN  PROBLEM 

(A.  C.  SHEPHERD,  DAKOTA  UNIVERSITY) 


History,  with  its  mystic  charms  and  charming 
mysteries,  reveals  to  us  the  treasures  of  the  past. 
It  enables  us  to  glance  back  through  the  dim  mists 
of  vanished  ages  and  behold  many  scenes  which  dis- 
close the  actuating  motives  of  the  world's  great 
actors.  Piercing  the  dark  clouds  which  enshroud 
the  pathway  o'er  which  progress  has  traveled,  we 
enter  in  thought  the  vale  of  long  ago. 

It  is  the  historic  day  when  the  little  island, 
San  Salvador,  was  first  seen  by  that  illustrious 
voyager  whose  name  is  now  immortal.  As  he  views 
enraptured  the  scene  before  him,  the  dusky,  stal- 
wart natives  swarm  down  from  the  flower-decked 
hillsides  and  emerge  from  sylvan  forests.  They 
gaze  in  profound  awe  and  ignorance  at  the  strange 
pale-faces  whom  they  enthrone  in  their  credulous 
imaginations  as  fair  gods  from  the  far-off  spirit 
world.  Little  did  the  untutored  Indian  dream  that 
these  pale-faces  would  soon  dispossess  him  of  his 
native  land  and  confine  him  upon  some  narrow  sec- 
tion of  this  wide,  colossal  realm.  Ignorant,  simple, 
and  savage,  little  did  he  know  that  the  advance  of 
civilization  meant  death  to  many  of  the  non-pro- 
gressive Indians  themselves. 

The  Indian  has  sometimes  been  pictured  as  a 
noble  hero.  He  has  been  idealized  by  the  fervid 
fancy  of  genius,  his  praises  sounded  in  sweet  strains 
of  poesy  and  song;  but  such  characters  as  the  im- 
mortal Hiawatha  lived  only  in  the  dream  of  the  poet, 
for  the  naturally  honest,  industrious,  and  moral 
Indian  is  a  mythical  being,  created  by  fancy,  the 


30  WINNING  ORATIONS 

unseen  hero  of  fictitious  tales.  The  Indian  has  his 
ideals,  admires  his  heroes,  worships  the  Great 
Spirit,  and  hopes  at  last  to  enter  the  happy  hunting- 
grounds  of  his  future  Elysian  home.  But  his  ideals 
are  ignoble  for  his  nature  is  untamed  and  base;  his 
heroes  are  reverenced,  not  for  deeds  of  love  and 
self-sacrifice,  but  for  those  of  cruelty  and  revenge; 
the  Great  Spirit  is  a  solemn,  mysterious,  unknow- 
able something,  worshiped  in  fear  and  superstition; 
the  happy  hunting-ground  is  a  consummation  of  his 
earthly  ambitions,  hopes  and  joys.  Thus  history 
portrays  him  by  removing  four  hundred  years  from 
the  vista  of  the  past. 

But  the  Indian  is  not  a  being  of  the  past.  In 
spite  of  the  conquering  armies  that  have  swept  over 
his  territory,  in  spite  of  disease,  famine,  and  wars, 
he  exists  today,  and  although  four  centuries  have 
passed  since  the  light  of  civilization  first  broke 
through  the  gloom  that  o'ershadowed  his  race — 
centuries  in  which  the  greatest  triumphs  of  genius 
have  been  achieved — he  exists  today  as  he  has 
existed  from  time  immemorial.  True,  there  may 
be  a  few  notable  exceptions,  but  almost  universally 
the  same  impulses  animate  his  being,  the  same  de- 
sires and  longings  characterize  his  nature.  Amid 
unprecedented  prosperity  and  progress  he  has  lived, 
not  aiding  in  its  development,  nor  participating  in 
its  joys,  not  even  sharing  in  its  rich  fruitions. 

The  record  of  events,  the  Indian's  determined 
opposition  to  culture  and  refinement,  and  above  all, 
the  recent  threatening  outbreak  lead  us  to  believe 
that  however  successful  civilization  may  have  been 
in  art,  science,  and  invention,  in  elevating  the  Indian 
it  has  signally  failed. 

When  wars  between  civilized  powers  arise,  we 
calmly  and  dispassionately  consider  the  causes  and 
then  exonerate  or  condemn  the  belligerent  nations. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  31 

Yet  scarcely  do  we  realize  how  many  and  how  great 
the  provocations  which  have  led  the  Indian  to  take 
up  arms  against  the  intruders  upon  the  soil  which 
he  claims  as  an  hereditary  possession,  and  which 
claim  our  government  has  fully  recognized,  as  seen 
by  the  treaties  it  has  made.  Thus  it  is  that  often 
the  savage  warrior  who  is  reprobated  by  public 
opinion  would  be  readily  acquitted  if  tried  before 
a  less  prejudiced  tribunal. 

The  story  of  the  Red  Man  awakens  feelings  of 
tenderest  pathos  as  well  as  sternest  condemnation. 
It  is  a  story  of  hopes  blasted  and  confidence  be- 
trayed, though  placed  in  the  representatives  of  the 
most  glorious  civilization  known  to  the  world.  Study 
his  history,  throw  aside  all  prejudice,  and  can  you 
then  deny  that  he  has  been  wronged?  He  has  often 
been  made  the  victim  of  the  cupidity  and  dishonesty 
of  his  white  brother  and  as  a  natural  result  he 
has  vented  his  outraged  feelings  and  wreaked  his 
merciless  vengeance  in  atrocious  massacres.  Actu- 
ated by  no  law,  human  or  divine,  save  the  law  of 
revenge,  and  having  no  redress  for  wrongs,  but  re- 
taliation, and  no  recourse  in  retaliation  save  war, 
can  we  blame  him  alone  that  he  has  caused  fields  to 
run  red  with  blood. 

Within  our  own  state,  recently  occurred  an  out-  • 
break  which,  General  Miles  affirms,  at  one  time 
threatened  to  be  the  most  terrible  recorded  on  the 
pages  of  Indian  warfare.  Along  the  Missouri  dwells 
the  same  tribe  that  instigated  the  awful  massacre  in 
the  early  days  of  Minnesota.  Upon  the  rolling 
prairies  of  that  frontier  state  was  enacted  one  of 
the  saddest  tragedies  the  historian  has  ever 
chronicled.  While  the  people  were  anxiously  await- 
ing the  result  of  the  strife  between  the  North  and 
the  South,  the  Sioux  Nation,  believing  the  govern- 
ment was  weakened  by  the  war,  in  open  defiance  of 


32  WINNING  ORATIONS 

civil  authority,  sought  to  avenge  themselves  of 
wrongs  endured. 

It  is  the  fault  of  the  Indian's  gross  ignorance 
that  he  does  not  discriminate  between  unoffending 
citizens  and  corrupt  government  officers.  Hence  it 
was  that  the  unsuspecting  settler  fell  a  hapless 
victim  before  the  destructive  tomahawk,  and  prairies 
and  dales  were  crimsoned  with  the  blood  of  guile- 
less innocence,  and  the  grassy  plains  were  dotted 
with  the  nameless  unmarked  graves  of  brave,  de- 
fenseless pioneers. 

But  it  was  not  wanton  cruelty.  It  was  an  ap- 
peal, not  to  feelings  of  right  and  justice,  but  to 
arms,  his  last  untried  resort.  It  was  war,  honorable 
and  fair,  as  his  savage  mind  had  been  taught  to 
appreciate  honor  and  fairness.  He  had  demanded 
his  rights,  he  had  appealed  to  the  sympathy  and 
humanity  of  those  in  authority.  His  demands  were 
unheeded;  his  pitiful  appeals  touched  no  responsive 
chord  in  the  unfeeling  heart  of  enthroned  villainy; 
then  in  one  final,  desperate  struggle  he  attempted 
to  assert  his  unrecognized  rights. 

"For  nearly  a  thousand  thousand  acres  of  the 
most  fertile  soil  in  the  Mississippi  Valley,  he  had 
received,"  says  Bishop  Whipple,  "not  a  farthing." 
In  the  light  of  this  fact,  we  are  led  to  believe  that 
it  was  his  manhood,  his  sense  of  injured  rights  that 
impelled  him  to  seek  redress  in  the  only  way  re- 
maining, but  it  was  ignorance  and  a  savage  nature 
into  which  had  been  inculcated  from  earliest  days 
a  love  for  the  infliction  of  torture,  that  provoked 
those  murders,  the  most  cruel  of  which  human  mind 
can  conceive,  the  most  fiendish  of  which  savage  brain 
is  the  author. 

Yet  the  government  did  not  learn,  even  at  the 
cost  of  a  thousand  lives,  that  it  is  economy  as  well 
as  humanity  to  treat  these  nomadic  tribes  with  the 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  33 

same  fairness  with  which  it  treats  its  own  constitu- 
ents, and  causes  similar  to  those  which  resulted 
in  the  Minnesota  outbreak  have  occasioned  the  late 
Sioux  War.  Pledges  violated  and  obligations  unper- 
formed have  cost  the  government  two  million 
dollars.  The  supplies  promised  were  given  only  in 
part  and,  with  a  scarcity  of  food  and  an  insufficiency 
of  clothing,  the  Indian  felt  that  there  was  no  pitying 
eye  to  see,  no  sympathizing  heart  to  appreciate  his 
condition. 

At  this  juncture  came  a  wonderful  story  of 
hope.  Messengers  from  the  Rockies  carried  the 
glad  tidings  of  deliverance.  A  Messiah  was  coming. 
The  Indian  was  to  be  liberated  from  his  foes  who 
were  to  be  swept  from  the  earth.  His  former  hunt- 
ing-grounds would  be  restored  and  he,  in  unre- 
stricted freedom,  would  engage  in  hunt  and  chase, 
unmolested  and  unrestrained.  And  what  he  holds 
most  sacred,  his  departed  friends,  dear  to  him  by  a 
thousand  ties  of  affection  as  strong  as  those  which 
bind  you,  0  Christian,  these  friends  were  to  be 
resurrected  and  together,  reinstated  in  the  scenes 
of  happier  days,  they  were  to  dwell  in  the  land  where 
their  fathers  had  dwelt  and  know  no  sorrow  nor  care. 

Thus  the  brightest  picture  that  hope  could 
paint  upon  the  sky  of  promise  was  disclosed  to  his 
delighted  eyes.  Imagine  yourself  in  the  same 
position,  surrounded  by  the  same  conditions,  and  as 
firmly  believing  that  some  supernatural  power  was 
about  to  bring  release  and  that  your  supremest  ideal 
of  perfect  happiness  was  just  within  your  reach. 
Think  you  that  you  would  idly  stand  and  not  im- 
plore that  omnipotent  power  to  grant  the  joys 
dearest  to  your  heart? 

The  unfortunate  Indian  was  soon  brought  to  see 
the  mightiness  of  his  foe;  the  excitement  was 
quelled;  the  Indian  subdued.  His  fond  dream  is 


34  WINNING  ORATIONS 

gone.  The  bright  picture  of  joys  restored  has  faded 
from  the  sky  of  hope  and  the  Indian  still  remains 
almost  an  emblem  of  despair. 

What  shall  we  do  with  his  race  that  we  may 
perform  our  duty  to  him,  to  our  government  and 
to  our  God?  It  has  been  said  that  the  only  road  to 
peace  is  through  extermination  and,  as  the  chosen 
people  of  God  were  commanded  to  slay  the  heathen 
nations  in  the  ancient  land  of  Canaan,  so  are  we,  in 
this  enlightened  age,  privileged  to  strike  from  off 
the  earth  these  human  beings  created  in  the  image 
of  God,  the  work  of  His  own  hands.  But  we  live 
not  under  the  dispensation  of  six  thousand  years 
ago,  for  those  mysterious  ways  were  changed  when 
that  forgiving,  sinless  Son  of  God  gave  the  divine 
command,  "Go  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature." 

Two  things  are  necessary  for  the  elevation  of 
the  Indian — Education  and  Evangelization.  These 
are  the  mighty  factors,  used  as  agencies  in  the 
hands  of  the  Divine,  for  the  uplifting  and  upbuild- 
ing of  humanity.  These  benignant  forces  will  ulti- 
mately triumph  over  every  superstition,  transform 
the  nature  of  the  savage  and  gladly  proclaim  to 
every  man  beneath  the  stars  sweet  tidings  of  uni- 
versal peace  and  love.  Then  not  with  the  flaming 
sword,  but  with  glad  news  of  intellectual  emancipa- 
tion, and  with  messages  of  a  dying  Savior's  love 
are  we  to  win  the  confidence  of  this  race  and  lead 
them  from  the  darkness  of  savagery  into  the  glori- 
ous light  of  civilization. 

Educated  and  Christianized,  the  Indian,  no 
longer  a  dependent  ward  upon  the  government,  be- 
comes a  man  with  all  the  boundless  possibilities  of 
a  noble  manhood.  Then  let  the  government  enact 
just  laws  to  ameliorate  the  unhappy  condition  of  this 
unhappy  race.  Let  the  church  promulgate  the  true 
gospel  and  thus  create  comfort  and  gladness  and 


SOUTH   DAKOTA  35 

blessing  where  now  is  darkness  and  despondency  and 
gloom. 

Then  in  this  Republic  all  kindred  tribes  of  the 
globe  shall  be  comprehended  within  the  bonds  of 
brotherhood.  For  the  people  shall  know  that  God 
has  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  of  the  earth. 
Then  the  starry  flag  of  the  Union,  unfurling  its 
silken  folds  in  the  balmy  sunshine  of  freedom,  will 
inspire  the  same  patriotic  emotions  of  pride  and 
love  in  the  heart  of  the  Red  Man  that  swell  in  the 
hearts  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  those  who 
fought  and  died  to  keep  it  floating  there.  Then  the 
grateful  prayer  of  thanksgiving  from  this  race,  re- 
deemed from  savagery,  shall  be  borne  on  the  wings 
of  faith,  up  through  boundless  ether  to  the  throne 
of  him  who  is  the  God  of  nations  and  the  God  of 
love. 


FIFTH  CONTEST  (1892) 
THE  NATIONAL  PROBLEM 

(J.   W.  HARRINGTON,   REDFEELD   COLLEGE) 


A  year  ago  Italians  assassinated  the  Chief -of- 
Police  at  New  Orleans.  A  criminal  offense  and  but 
one  of  a  thousand — yet  it  serves  a  purpose;  it 
carries  with  it  a  message  of  truth  and  a  lesson  of 
national  importance.  To  the  statesman,  to  the 
student,  to  every  individual  whose  interest  goes  be- 
yond self,  this  occurrence  brings  into  prominence 
a  social  problem  of  highest  moment.  Discussed  in 
the  weekly  press  and  solid  review;  noted  in  the  plat- 
forms of  political  parties,  investigated  by  the  "Ford 
Committee;"  pondered  over  by  congressmen  and 
senators;  carefully  measured  by  the  philanthropist's 
eye;  agitated  as  a  party  issue;  weighed  in  the  bal- 
ance of  legislation,  but  not  yet  solved — the  immi- 
gration problem. 

We  have  welcomed  the  European  immigrants 
as  does  a  mother  her  beloved  child.  Twas  well. 
They  have  tilled  our  land,  built  our  railways,  and 
fought  our  battles.  The  English,  the  Irish,  the 
Germans,  the  Scandinavians — eliminate  their  work, 
forget  their  deeds,  and  you  have  not  an  American 
Republic  but  an  English  colony.  The  ruddy  glow 
on  the  cheeks  of  their  children  is  your  heritage. 
Their  strong  arms  which  make  factories  resound 
and  cities  rise  are  your  safety.  Condemn  not  their 
labors.  Give  them  credit  for  a  noble  work. 

But  alas!  The  laws  of  a  progressive  people 
must  ever  change.  Conditions  and  circumstances 
shift  as  the  winds.  Come  with  me  to  Castle  Garden. 
What  alien  faces  now  cross  the  gang-way?  Not 
Germans,  not  Irish;  but  the  forbidding  hosts  so 


38  WINNING  ORATIONS 

familiar  in  south  and  central  Europe — Italians, 
Hungarians,  and  Poles — men  and  women  born  of 
poverty,  fed  with  crime,  dwarfed  in  body  and  soul. 
This  unwelcome  throng  doubles  in  a  single  year, 
while  the  more  desirable  classes  from  northern 
Europe  steadily  decrease.  Mark  well  the  contrast. 
No  longer  come  great  numbers  from  intellectual 
Europe,  but  the  undesirable  classes  from  the  south, 
encouraged  as  they  are  by  glowing  promises  of 
steamship  companies  or  driven  from  their  home 
lands  by  want  and  taxation,  rush  into  our  borders 
like  so  many  sheep  set  free  from  the  fold.  Despite 
enforced  idleness  and  crowded  poor-houses,  despite 
the  rise  of  colossal  fortune  and  scarcity  of  money 
among  the  working  classes,  despite  the  rapid  change 
in  public  sentiment — the  alien  stream  continues  to 
swell. 

Long  established  laws  have  a  charm.  It  is  a 
weakness  to  cling  to  the  old.  Still  reforms  must 
come.  They  steal  upon  us  as  the  morning  light — 
a  quiet,  health-giving,  resistless  presence.  Civiliza- 
tion follows  no  beaten  path.  The  course  society 
should  take  can  never  be  definitely  mapped  out. 
Political  Economy  is  not  an  exact  science.  As  the 
individual  advances  in  thought,  so  does  society. 
Fixed  laws  cannot  meet  the  demands  of  an  unfixed 
people.  Certain  liberties  may  bring  harmony  to 
one  generation,  but  cause  confusion  and  war  in  the 
next.  No  matter  what  our  past  policy  has  been 
toward  immigration;  our  government  should  not 
hesitate  to  alter  that  policy  if  the  welfare  of  society 
demands  a  change.  The  law,  good  in  a  new  and 
sparsely  settled  country,  becomes  bad  when  the 
struggle  of  life  is  intense  and  when  tramps  and 
paupers  multiply. 

In  history's  drama  we  see  two  forces  battling; 
one  for  more  liberty,  the  other  for  more  law.  These 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  39 

factions  have  played  their  parts  in  leading  society 
on  and  up.  Yet  with  all  our  freedom  and  our  learn- 
ing— the  heritage  of  centuries — we  are  unable  to 
reach  the  most  practical  boundary  between  freedom 
and  restraint.  But  we  approach  it  as  legislation 
is  shaped  to  fit  the  changing  moulds  of  progressive 
society. 

Count  the  great  nations  ruling  in  other  ages. 
Where  are  they  now? 

"Gone,  glimmering  through  the  dream  of  things  that  were, 
A  schoolboy's  tale,  the  wonder  of  an  hour." 

To  conquer  the  world  was  their  ambition, 
physical  and  moral  neglect  their  error.  The  strength 
and  dignity  of  a  nation  consists  not  in  its  acres,  gold, 
or  cities,  but  in  a  united  and  homogeneous  people. 
It  is  not  enough  for  a  nation  to  frame  a  model 
government;  it  should  maintain  the  mental  and 
physical  qualities  of  its  people,  that  they  may  be 
true  to  that  model. 

The  mingling  of  peoples  differing  in  environ- 
ment and  in  habits  brings  disastrous  results. 
Ancient  history  proves  this  many  times;  I  cite  but 
a  single  case.  From  the  time  Alexander  captured 
the  key  of  the  Orient  at  Arbela,  Greece  declined. 
True,  she  Hellenized  Asia;  but  a  re-action  in  morals 
and  manners  came.  "  'Twas  Greece,  but  living 
Greece  no  more."  Patriotism,  oratory,  and  intellect 
bloomed  in  the  "age  of  Pericles."  By  the  influence 
of  the  Oriental  mind,  weakened  under  the  yoke  of 
despotism,  and  blinded  by  the  darkness  of  centuries, 
they  were  crushed  and  poisoned.  But  why  go  back 
so  far  in  history?  The  effect  of  mingling  different 
bloods  is  seen  today  in  our  own  land.  The  red  man 
has  united  with  the  white  only  to  produce  a  de- 
generate offspring;  while  the  Mexicans,  represent- 
ing the  amalgamation  of  widely  separated  families, 
now  feed  on  revolution  and  chaos,  though  their 


40  WINNING  ORATIONS 

land  is  one  of  richness  and  beauty,  such  as  only  a 
Prescott  can  describe.  These  people  have  a  strong 
hold  in  south-western  United  States.  They  impede 
progress.  They  are  un-American.  Education  must 
soon  lead  them  to  appreciate  American  citizenship, 
or  force  expel  them.  The  proclamation  declaring 
freedom  to  the  Negro  bound  our  nation  to  provide 
that  race  with  a  home  by  itself.  Nature  teaches 
that  amalgamation  of  races,  or  widely  separated 
families,  is  often  a  step  toward  national  decay. 

During  the  last  twenty  years  two  potent  social 
factors,  hidden  in  the  rapid  rush  of  progress,  have 
quietly  arrayed  themselves  for  battle,  and  now  ap- 
pear under  the  names  of  Capital  and  Labor.  Agi- 
tation is  concentrating  their*  forces.  Time  only 
widens  the  gap  of  hatred.  Under  these  threatening 
circumstances  an  average  of  one  thousand  foreigners 
is  daily  added  to  Labor's  army.  Ignoring  the  en- 
croachments of  Capital  and  the  demands  of  Labor, 
ignoring  the  efforts  put  forth  by  philanthropists 
and  statesmen  to  harmonize  all  social  factors,  they 
throw  themselves  into  the  already  crowded  indus- 
tries, lower  wages,  then  lead  an  excited  mob  in  a 
lawless  demand  for  a  wage-increase.  Who  felt  not 
the  shock  of  the  bursting  bomb  at  the  Chicago 
Hay  Market!  What  face  can  hide  the  blush  of 
shame  as  the  honest  wage-workers  of  Pennsylvania's 
mines  are  displaced  by  Poles  and  Hungarians?  Mr. 
Gladstone's  argument  in  favor  of  home  rule  is  that 
the  Irish  vote  blocks  legislation.  So,  in  this  country, 
legislation  in  behalf  of  Labor  is  prevented  by  the 
"foreign  vote"  so  largely  influenced  by  party  bosses 
and  whisky  dictation.  Look  at  Chicago!  Look  at 
New  York!  It  is  here  that  the  alien  controls  the 
ballot-box;  it  is  here  that  municipal  government  is 
most  corrupt. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  41 

Twenty  years  ago  a  city  in  Pennsylvania  con- 
tained a  population  of  thirty-five  thousand.  Happy 
Americans  they  were,  toiling  all  day  in  the  mine 
and  at  evening  gathering  round  a  fire-place  of  their 
own.  The  city  was  filled  with  homes  of  love  and 
contentment.  Children  romped  on  the  lawns  and 
voiced  sweet  music  in  song  and  play.  No  thought 
of  "strikes"  ruffled  the  simple  life  or  disturbed  the 
quiet  work  of  the  miner.  Labor,  child  of  God  and 
gift  to  man,  blessed  all.  Enter  that  city  today. 
You  see  but  a  remnant  of  that  happy  people. 
Italians  and  Hungarians  fill  their  places.  True 
happiness  is  unknown  to  these.  Slavish  drudgery  is 
their  lot.  The  day  is  worn  away  for  a  scanty  pit- 
tance; and  at  night  they  crowd  together,  thirty  or 
forty  in  a  single  shack.  Children  are  pushed  into 
the  streets  to  tramp  and  steal,  to  beg  and  steal, 
as  children  before  them  have  done  for  centuries  in 
another  land.  In  such  a  place  Freedom's  voice  is 
hushed.  The  Stars  and  Stripes  fade  away. 

This  nation  has  a  lofty  mission  to  perform;  it 
is  destined  to  carry  moral  reforms  not  to  individuals 
alone,  but  to  nations.  With  God  in  its  constitu- 
tion and  freedom  its  ensign,  it  is  bound  to  turn  the 
currents  of  mercy  and  good  will  where  they  are 
most  needed  to  flow.  How  can  this  noble  work  be 
accomplished?  Shall  we  make  our  land  a  home  for 
the  oppressed  of  other  nations,  regardless  of  inter- 
nal conditions?  Democracy  means  co-operation;  the 
requisites  are  harmony  and  homogeneousness. 
Without  these,  great  moral  reforms  cannot  be 
carried  beyond  our  borders,  because  all  moral  forces 
must  constantly  work  at  home.  Example  is  the 
greatest  teacher.  If  our  duty  to  other  nations  is 
reform,  let  us  hold  up  before  them  a  unified  people; 
thus  saying,  "Go  thou  and  do  likewise."  The  in- 
discriminate absorption  of  society  from  the  over- 


42  WINNING  ORATIONS 

burdened  nations  of  Europe,  not  only  deteriorates 
our  own  people,  but  prevents  these  other  nations 
from  rectifying  social  wrongs.  "Let  England  break 
up  her  parks  and  game-preserves  and  give  Ireland 
a  good  land  bill.  Let  Russia  either  exterminate 
or  pacify  her  revolutionists.  Let  Prussia  and  Italy 
and  Austria  disband  the  armies  which  starve  one 
part  of  their  population  by  keeping  the  other  part 
in  enforced  idleness.  Let  the  great  powers  form 
alliances  in  behalf  of  their  people  instead  of  their 
crowns;  instead  of  emigrating,  these  oppressed 
multitudes  should  stay  and  hammer  the  doors  of 
palaces  and  gates  of  hedged  forests  and  untilled 
parks,  and  cast  their  burdens  of  military  despotism 
and  taxation  and  groaning  want  upon  the  floors  of 
Parliament  and  Reichstag,  demanding  relief,  and 
taking  it  if  it  be  not  granted." 

"Failure"  is  stamped  on  the  present  immigration 
law.  To  enforce  it  is  impractical.  How  many  men 
are  necessary  to  guard  our  border  line  of  thirteen 
thousand  miles?  What  statute  provides  for  the 
expulsion  of  the  alien  when  once  he  has  crossed  our 
threshold?  The  provisions  of  the  law  are  such  as 
to  admit  the  unconvicted  anarchist  and  assassin,  but 
drive  back  across  the  sea  the  family  which  can  show 
no  visible  means  of  support.  They  admit  thieves 
and  murderers  having  booty  to  show  efficiency  in 
their  devilish  trades  but  debar  the  wage-worker 
merely  because  he  has  no  money. 

In  the  name  of  God!  Is  character  put  at 
naught?  Can  American  manhood  be  bought  with 
gold? 

In  brief,  the  immigrant  should  bring  from  his 
home  a  certificate  of  character  showing  the  nature 
of  his  past  occupation  and  an  upright  life  before 
the  law.  This  should  be  signed  by  a  local  official, 
then  endorsed  by  an  American  consul  at  the  port  of 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  43 

departure,  and  at  last  presented  to  the  American 
commissioners  at  the  port  of  landing.  With  such 
a  provision  the  cost  of  American  citizenship  would 
not  be  wealth  but  character. 

On  a  pile  of  granite  in  New  York  harbor  is 
the  Goddess  of  Liberty.  High  above  her  head  she 
holds  a  torch  to  welcome  all.  Life  breathes  in  the 
majestic  image.  Beauty  plays  upon  her  countenance 
and  the  wisdom  of  Minerva  beams  from  her  eye.  She 
is  the  incarnation  of  all  that  is  good  and  great. 
See!  her  arm  rises;  her  hand  extends  toward  the 
tenement-house  districts  of  New  York  City,  where 
every  trace  of  American  manners  is  eliminated  by 
clannish  foreigners.  Now  her  body  turns.  She 
points  beyond  the  steeples  and  towers  of  Brooklyn 
to  the  poorly  paid  factory  workers  of  New  England. 
Now  she  stretches  her  hand  toward  that  little  city 
once  filled  with  happy  homes,  but  today  the  center 
of  misery.  From  east  to  west,  from  ocean  to  ocean, 
the  arch  of  blue  is  hung  with  golden  letters.  She 
reads:  "To  thee,  0  Nation,  it  is  given  to  bring  light 
to  the  world."  A  sound  of  dashing  waves  is  heard. 
She  looks.  A  ship  glides  into  the  harbor  laden  with 
people  of  another  clime.  Her  head  turns.  Her  eyes 
seek  the  Capitol  at  Washington.  She  speaks:  "In 
behalf  of  the  American  people  filter  the  stream  of 
immigration." 


SIXTH  CONTEST  (1893) 
THE  SPIRIT  OF  ROMANCE 

(T.  A.  STUBBINS,  YANKTON  COLLEGE) 


There  is  nothing  in  the  way  of  man's  equip- 
ment for  the  battle  of  life  that  so  drives  him  to  the 
goal  of  success  as  that  power  which  "bodies  forth 
the  form  of  things  unknown."  It  is  found  in  all 
ages;  it  is  present  in  every  heart.  The  intellect 
may  grasp  a  scepter;  the  determined  will  may  hold 
that  scepter  relentlessly  over  the  head  of  a  turbu- 
lent people;  but  it  is  the  imagination  that  stands 
behind  them  both  and  scourges  them  on  to  their 
deeds  of  daring.  The  mind  and  heart  may  change 
as  the  chameleon,  but  the  spirit  of  romance  present 
in  every  breast,  is  as  stable  as  the  life  of  which 
it  is  a  part  and  endures  as  long  as  that  life  endures. 
Think  lightly  of  it  if  we  will,  question  its  living 
reality  and  its  vital  importance  yet  it  does  exist 
and  exists  to  inspire  the  soul.  It  leads  us  on,  on 
and  on,  but  at  last  crowns  our  aspirations  with 
success;  not  the  chimerical  success  that  our  fancy 
painted,  but  the  prosperity  that  has  palpability, 
even  to  this  prosaic  world.  It  brings  before  the 
mind  magnified  pictures  of  things  which  have  as 
yet  neither  shape,  nor  existence,  but  which  embody 
the  soul's  highest  desires.  Through  it  we  see  only 
the  golden  future  spread  before  us;  in  it  we  feel 
our  brightest  hopes  and  most  daring  ambitions 
realized.  That  mystic  spirit  may  build  tottering 
castles,  but  experience  never  levels  them  lower  than 
their  foundations. 

When  Jacob  in  olden  times  arose,  forsaking  his 
father,  mother  and  home,  seeking  the  land  of  Pan- 
dan-aram,  a  spirit  went  with  him  whispering  tales 


46  WINNING  ORATIONS 

of  success.  -He  then  believed  that  his  possessions 
should  spread  to  the  west  and  to  the  east,  to  the 
north  and  to  the  south.  He  pillowed  his  head  upon 
stones;  watered  the  sheep  for  Rachel,  served  many 
years  and  "it  seemed  but  a  few  days."  Did  not  a 
spirit— shall  we  say  of  romance— lead  him  on? 

King  Richard  in  his  arrogant,  passionate  and 
yet  human  pride,  with  his  dark  and  mysterious 
career,  is  led  to  all  his  success  by  a  tale  of  romance. 
William  Wallace,  as  he  sees  the  Highland  clans 
deploy  upon  the  plains  of  Cambus  Kenneth,  never 
thinks  of  Scotland  as  languishing  in  chains.  He 
sees  her  rather  rushing  through  the  din  and  roar 
of  battle  with  myrtle  thrown  from  her  brow  and 
the  wreath  of  victory  in  her  hand.  Hannibal  draws 
his  sword,  and  as  it  flashes  in  the  air  sees  reflected 
a  vison  of  glory,  power  and  success. 

Today  it  is  said  that  the  spirit  of  romance  is 
dead — that  this  is  the  age  of  facts  and  figures;  of 
railroads  and  realities;  of  traffic,  trade,  and  bank 
accounts.  No  longer  does  the  youth  go  forth  as  a 
knight  errant  to  do  battle  for  "honor  and  his  lady 
love;"  no  young  Sir  Launfal  leaves  has  castle  now 
to  find  the  Holy  Grail;  and  Europe  would  laugh  to 
scorn  a  visionary  Hermit  Peter,  who  sought  to  lead 
a  holy  crusade  against  the  modern  Saracen.  The 
lands  have  all  been  discovered;  the  seas  have  all 
been  swept;  the  forests  have  all  been  pierced;  the 
witches  have  all  been  burned;  the  nymphs,  the 
Dryads,  the  mermaids  have  all  been  routed  from 
their  haunts  in  forest  and  ocean,  and  find  no  longer 
a  place  to  rule  but  in  the  fanciful  retreats  of  Baby- 
land. 

But  is  that  life?     Are  we  all  practical? 

In  reality  we  never  buckle  on  armor  and  ride 
forth  hunting  those  marvels  that  soar  beyond  fact 
and  real  life  and  sometimes  possibility.  But  are 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  47 

we  not  too  ready  to  laugh  at  the  poet  and  acquiesce 
with  the  cynic?  Have  they  indeed  all  gone — those 
fancies  that  built  the  Pyramids,  chiseled  the  Sphynx 
and  peopled  Greece  with  marble  forms  of  beauty? 
Does  Jacob  no  longer  see  in  his  dreams  the  ladder 
leading  up  to  heaven;  nor  Joan  of  Arc  hear  a 
voice  whispering  in  her  ear  that  she  must  lead  the 
army  of  France  to  battle? 

No,  they  are  not  gone — those  visions.  When 
men  cease  to  dream,  they  cease  to  hope;  when  hope 
is  gone,  they  die.  It  is  said  that  upon  the  vast 
plains  of  North  America  the  shepherd  lads  seldom 
live  to  see  their  hair  grow  white  with  years.  In 
the  morning  and  at  night,  in  summer  and  in  winter 
they  sweep  their  eyes  about  upon  one  boundless, 
measureless,  changeless  blank.  The  great  plains 
from  every  direction  seem  to  slope  downward  to 
the  hapless  shepherd's  feet,  until  to  his  desolate 
fancy  he  stands  in  a  mammoth  pit.  He  looks  to 
the  west  and  there  is  no  change;  he  appeals  to  the 
east  and  there  is  no  promise  of  hope.  No  change, 
no  change  in  sight.  The  remorseless  plain  presses 
in  upon  him;  it  suffocates,  it  crushes  him.  In  youth 
he  is  haggard;  in  manhood  his  temples  have 
whitened;  in  maturity  he  is — a  maniac. 

Thus  must  it  be  in  life  to  those  whom  the  spirit 
of  romance  has  forsaken.  How  few  they  are,  the 
river  sedges  and  morgues  disclose.  Merely  a  hand- 
ful from  the  thousands  are  overwhelmed,  as  is  the 
shepherd  boy,  by  life's  vast  treeless  plain.  The 
rest  bear  in  their  very  souls  the  magic  safeguard 
of  romance,  and  even  while  their  ears  are  arrested 
by  the  suicide's  sullen  plunge  into  the  river  of 
death,  their  eyes  are  fixed  eagerly  upon  their  own 
enchanting  "Castles  in  Spain." 

The  visions  above  all  things  that  come  to  the 
beggar,  place  him  on  a  more  equal  footing  with  the 


48  WINNING  ORATIONS 

millionaire.  He  wanders  along  the  street,  the  cold 
rain  falls  upon  him  as  he  shivers  in  his  scanty 
raiment.  The  fitful  glare  of  the  street  lamps 
reveals  his  bent  and  weary  form.  He  is  spattered 
with  the  mud  from  the  street;  but  he  looks  up  with 
hope  in  his  eye.  What  does  he  see?  Around  the 
corner  warmth,  prosperity  and  success  seem  to 
beckon  him  on.  They  are — just  ahead. 

The  millionaire  in  his  carriage  looks  out,  sees 
the  beggar,  pities  him;  then  leans  back  upon  the 
cushions,  closes  his  eyes,  and  unto  him  a  vision 
comes.  He  sees  political  fame,  greater  riches, 
honor,  and  success — just  ahead. 

An  Oriental  reclines,  inhaling  the  sweet  fumes 
of  opium;  before  him  is  a  summer  evening  in  all 
its  beauty.  The  blood  red  sun  is  setting  in  a  bank 
of  pink  haze  which  rests  upon  the  horizon,  while 
the  sea,  undisturbed  by  a  single  ripple,  shines  like 
a  mirror  of  burnished  gold;  dark  sails  and  hulls 
of  ships,  white  patches  of  sea  birds  floating  on  the 
outgoing  tide,  and  cliffs  rising  precipitously  be- 
hind, are  reflected.  A  range  of  rugged  mountains 
is  lost  among  the  purple  clouds.  The  murmur  of 
some  wee  streamlet  tumbling  to  the  sea  is  borne 
to  his  ear.  All  is  clad  in  silver  and  gold  as  he 
dreams,  dreams,  dreams  of  success — just  ahead. 

Oh  thou  spirit,  how  closely  our  lives  are  inter- 
woven by  thine  invisible  forces! 

But  this  impalpable  spirit  of  romance  does  more 
than  incite  us  to  enterprise.  It  beautifies  the  com- 
monplace of  life.  Childhood  never  sees  the  com- 
monplace. To  it  the  darkness  is  more  than  dark- 
ness; it  is  a  black  horror  that  holds  every  form  of 
evil.  To  it  the  sunlight  is  more  than  sunlight;  it 
is  alive  and  the  stars  are  living  beings.  Words- 
worth tells  us  that  every  creature  brings  from  an- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  49 

other  world  the  memory  of  a  glory  that  is  left 
behind,  and  that  in  the  journey  of  life  every  young 
man 

"Is  by  the  vision  splendid 

Upon    his   way    attended ; 
At  length  the  man  perceives  it  die  away. 
And  fade  into  the  light  of  common  day." 

Ah,  yes;  but  that  "common  day"  never  quite 
comes.  There  is  always  something  of  the  child  in 
us.  Look  into  the  hearts  of  the  very  aged  or  very 
poor;  in  the  most  desolate  land  or  the  most  popu- 
lous, and  there  will  always  be  found  this  element 
of  youth. 

Far  out  in  the  west,  where  the  plains  stretch 
away  in  monotonous  expanse,  and  the  parched  vege- 
tation does  not  even  undulate  in  the  breeze,  a  new 
town  springs  into  existence.  The  whistle  of  the 
locomotive  does  not  yet  disturb  its  silence.  No 
crowds  hurry  through  its  streets.  A  few  squalid 
buildings,  a  few  forlorn  beasts,  silence,  desolation; 
"stale,  flat,  unprofitable"  existence — that  is  all. 

Is  it  all?  A  man  stands  upon  the  corner  of 
a  future  street.  He  is  one  in  whose  heart  burns 
the  spirit  of  romance.  A  few  hundred  years  ago 
he  would  have  been  a  knight  and  fought  in  the 
crusade.  Later,  he  might  have  stood  with  Luther 
and  helped  shake  the  Vatican.  Still  later  his  hands 
would  have  been  the  first  to  break  the  chains  of 
human  slavery.  Now  as  he  looks  his  eye  kindles. 
The  wretched  village  acquires  dignity  in  his  sight. 
Its  meanest  sounds  are  as  sweet  as  the  notes  of  a 
deep-toned  bell;  its  huts  become  mansions;  its 
streets  the  fairest  boulevards;  and  there,  with 
marble  steps  leading  to  its  brown-stone  front, 
stands — his  home.  Toil  is  made  easy,  privations 
are  forgotten,  pain  does  not  hurt;  for  he  walks  in 
the  light  that  reflects  from  a  glory — just  ahead. 


50  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Thus  the  spirit  of  romance  given  by  God  to 
Adam  for  an  eternal  legacy  to  mankind  has  come 
through  the  ages,  overthrowing  despots,  setting  up 
kingdoms,  and  next  to  the  Christian  faith  giving 
solace  to  weary  souls  and  making  bright  many  a 
life. 

The  world  moves  on  in  its  progress.  Schools, 
with  apparatus  adapted  for  every  kind  of  scientific 
work,  flourish;  railroads  intersect  each  other  at 
almost  every  milepost;  canals  wind  their  way 
through  hills  and  mountains;  steamships  plow  the 
waves  with  incredible  swiftness;  telescopes  bring 
fiery  bodies  through  millions  of  miles  of  space  and 
we  view  them;  telephones  carry  the  voice  from 
ocean  to  ocean,  and  the  telegraph  sends  a  message 
with  the  speed  of  the  sun's  rays;  Eiffel  towers 
penetrate  the  clouds,  and  great  buildings  cover  acres 
of  ground;  rivers  are  turned  from  their  channels, 
and  the  whole  face  of  the  earth  undergoes  mighty 
changes — but  do  we?  No! 

"We  are  such  stuff 

As  dreams  are  made  of,  and  cur  little   life 
Is  rounded  with  a  sleep." 

Only  when  thought  born  of  spirit  shall  become 
fact,  and  all  facts  thought,  shall  we  cease  to  look 
for  greater  things — just  ahead. 


SEVENTH  CONTEST  (1894) 

THE  PRESERVATIVE  ELEMENT  IN  AMERICAN 

SOCIETY 

(RIQHARD  F.   LOCKE,  SIOUX  FALLS  COLLEGE) 


Political  optimism  is  said  to  be  one  of  the 
vices  of  the  American  people.  A  French  writer  has 
recently  declared  that  there  exists  in  this  country 
"a  popular  belief  that  God  takes  care  of  children, 
fools,  and  the  United  States."  During  the  last 
thirty  years  Americans  have  cherished  an  almost 
unquestioning  faith  in  the  wisdom  and  soundness  of 
their  institutions.  With  the  abolition  of  slavery, 
which  had  so  long  disturbed  the  peace  and  threatened 
the  security  of  the  nation,  it  was  believed  that  the 
only  serious  danger  had  been  safely  passed;  and  that 
the  union,  having  stood  the  test  of  the  mightiest 
civil  conflict  of  all  history,  was  thenceforth  secure. 

The  years  since  then  have  strengthened  this 
belief.  No  danger  has  arisen  serious  enough  to 
cause  alarm.  While  the  nations  of  Europe  have 
been  clouded  with  threatenings  of  conflict,  our  skies 
have  been  serene.  In  the  midst  of  party  strife,  in 
commercial  panics,  in  the  jarring  of  social  questions, 
one  thought  has  found  lodgment  in  every  patriotic 
mind — the  thought  that  we  as  a  nation  are  great 
and  free. 

The  real  progress  of  the  world  has  been  along 
two  lines — the  development  of  the  individual,  and 
the  organization  of  society.  Individualism  is  the 
power  which  produces  the  social  units.  It  secures 
freedom  of  thought,  freedom  of  action.  Organiza- 
tion binds  these  units  into  the  social  whole.  One 
is  the  progressive,  the  other  the  conservative  force. 
One  gives  motion,  the  other  permanence.  Upon 


52  WINNING  ORATIONS 

the  proper  balance  of  these  two  forces  the  worth 
and  stability  of  every  social  system  must  depend. 
Individualism  without  organization  is  savagery.  Or- 
ganization without  individualism  is  tyranny.  The 
American  Indian  is  an  example  of  the  former. 
China,  standing  motionless  for  four  thousand  years 
with  her  back  to  the  future,  is  an  example  of  the 
latter. 

In  the  full  recognition  of  individual  rights  we 
have  reached  in  this  country  the  ultimate  goal  of 
progress.  A  step  beyond  is  anarchy.  We  are  free. 
This  has  made  us  great.  The  courage  and  energy 
which  have  united  in  our  material  development  have 
no  parallel  in  history.  The  right  to  acquire  and 
possess  his  own  has  made  every  man  a  worker.  It 
has  awakened  the  latent  energies  of  every  mind, 
for  it  has  set  a  goal  of  promise  before  every  life. 
Invention,  the  child  of  freedom,  has  unlocked  the 
treasure  house  of  nature  and  has  utilized  its  secrets 
for  the  blessing  of  mankind.  This  country  possesses 
to  an  unmatched  degree  the  opportunity  and  the 
power  to  grow.  In  the  extent  and  splendor  of  its 
material  achievements  it  has  already  distanced  com- 
petition. It  is  not,  however,  what  a  nation  gains, 
but  what  it  keeps,  that  insures  its  well  being.  The 
story  of  the  condemned  Sisyphus,  toiling  painfully 
with  his  burden  almost  to  the  hill  top  only  to  let  it 
fall,  has  stood  too  long  as  the  mournful  type  of 
baffled  human  hopes. 

It  has  been  believed  that  we  were  coming  to  the 
golden  age  of  the  world;  that  as  the  burdens  of  toil 
were  shifted  more  and  more  to  "the  willing  shoul- 
ders of  Nature"  there  would  be  leisure  for  every 
man.  During  the  last  generation  the  productive 
power  of  a  day's  work  has  been  doubled.  But,  has 
it  brought  rest  to  anyone?  Rather,  is  not  the 
struggle  of  American  life  growing  more  intense!  Is 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  53 

not  the  strain  upon  our  social  system  constantly 
increasing?  During  the  last  decade  the  masses  of 
our  people  have  been  better  housed  and  clothed  and 
fed  than  ever  before.  With  the  application  of  ma- 
chinery the  efficiency  of  labor  rises.  It  yields  a 
constantly  enlarged  return.  But  in  spite  of  this 
we  see  a  rapidly  growing  unrest  and  discontent. 
The  truth  is  that  the  standards  of  living  have 
changed.  Things  which  were  luxuries  yesterday 
are  necessities  of  life  today.  A  new  law  of  pro- 
gress is  unfolding  to  our  view.  It  is  this — that  as 
civilization  advances  the  wants  of  men  multiply  and 
tend  always  to  outstrip  the  power  to  satisfy  them. 
It  will  yet  be  plain  to  every  mind,  that  whirling 
spindles,  flying  looms,  and  swiftly  rolling  wheels 
are  all  in  vain  to  cool  the  fever  of  industrial  strife. 

We  have  been  accustomed  to  look  behind  us  for 
the  crises  of  our  government.  But  there  is  reason 
for  believing  that  the  time  for  the  real  testing  of 
American  institutions  has  not  yet  come.  The  su- 
preme question  is  this — can  this  country  develop  a 
conservative  energy  proportionate  to  its  progressive 
power?  It  is  not  unlikely  that  we  may  yet  be  com- 
pelled to  contend  for  life  against  conditions  which 
shall  be  but  the  logical  outcome  of  the  things  in 
which  we  have  gloried  most. 

What  are  the  chief  sources  of  our  pride?  Are 
they  not  our  freedom,  and  our  greatness?  Aye,  we 
are  free!  The  serfdom  of  the  past  is  gone!  The 
struggle  has  been  long  and  hard.  Through  weary 
centuries  of  conflict,  groping  blindly  in  the  fogs 
of  ignorance  and  doubt  and  error,  breaking  down  the 
barriers  of  hate  and  scorn  which  hedged  his  way, 
pushing  with  deathless  courage  up  the  steep  and 
rugged  pathway,  he  has  come,  and  stands  today 
uncrowned,  but  regal  in  his  rights — the  common 
man.  He  is  free!  No  more  for  him  shall  slavery's 


54  WINNING  ORATIONS 

chains  be  forged  or  whips  be  woven  out  of  thongs. 
The  index  finger  of  history,  on  its  every  page,  has 
pointed  to  his  coming.  Upon  the  richest  and  fairest 
continent  of  the  whole  world  God  kept  "the  time- 
lock  of  providence"  until  he  came.  And  here,  on 
this  broad  theater,  he  is  to  play  his  part.  If  he 
plays  well,  it  means  the  sunrise  of  freedom  to  the 
world,  and  the  twentieth  century  may  witness  the 
complete  enfranchisement  of  humankind.  But  if 
he  fails,  it  means  the  coming  on  of  night,  in  whose 
rayless  darkness  not  one  star  of  hope  shall  shine. 
But,  for  weal  or  woe,  his  will  is  sovereign  now. 
Henceforth  the  destiny  of  the  world  is  in  his  hands. 
He  has  tasted  of  the  sweets  of  life  and  has  found 
them  good.  He  will  take  possession  of  his  own. 
It  is  in  vain  for  men  to  say  that  this  Caliban,  this 
"Titan  of  the  mud-sills,"  should  now  be  contented 
with  his  lot.  'Tis  enough  that  he  is  not  contented, 
and  will  not  be.  He  has  become  a  different  sort  of 
a  man.  The  horizon  of  his  desires  has  widened 
with  his  freedom,  and  his  growing  wants  are  push- 
ing him  ever  more  and  more  into  the  conflict  of 
life.  In  that  conflict,  by  means  either  foul  or  fair, 
he  is  sure  to  win.  That  he  may  carry  peace  upon 
his  banners,  that  his  victory  may  be  a  noble  one, 
must  be  our  aim  and  prayer. 

The  revolution  of  the  sixteenth  century  resulted 
in  freedom  of  conscience — religious  liberty.  With 
the  eighteenth  century  came  equality  of  rights — 
civil  liberty.  Here,  on  American  soil,  these  prin- 
ciples have  had  their  freest  and  largest  growth. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  55 

Of  their  abundant  fruitage  time  has  made  us  the 
favored  heirs.  But  an  equally  important  work  re- 
mains— the  preservation  of  liberty  through  the  ad- 
justment of  the  industrial  and  social  relations  of 
man  to  man.  This  work  must  be  accomplished,  as 
Milton  wrote  of  glory. 

Without  ambition,   war.   or   violence. 
By  deeds  of  peace,  by  wisdom  eminent. 
By  patience,  temperance. 

But  we  are  great  as  well  as  free.  America  is 
great  in  all  things; — great  in  wealth  and  in  com- 
mercial importance,  great  in  her  victories  won  in 
war  and  in  nobler  victories  of  peace.  But  she  is 
notably  great  among  other  nations  in  extent  of  ter- 
ritory. Including  Alaska,  her  area  almost  equals 
that  of  the  entire  continent  of  Europe.  She  is 
bounded  only  by  the  limits  which  God  has  fixed — 
the  oceans  and  the  zones.  But  history  teaches  this 
lesson,  that  the  successful  administration  of  govern- 
ment is  difficult  in  proportion  to  the  extent  of  a 
nation's  territory.  In  order  that  a  free  government 
may  exist  in  prosperity  and  peace  the  people  who 
live  under  it  must  be  essentially  a  unit.  Wide  di- 
versities of  race,  religion,  or  material  interest,  must 
prove  a  menace  to  the  security  of  any  people. 

In  all  cases  in  which  the  strong  hand  of  arbi- 
trary power  has  bound  together  tribes  and  people 
hostile  to  each  other  the  law  of  disintegration  has 
annulled  the  work.  Alexander  went  forth  in  con- 
quest. Egypt,  Assyria,  Babylonia,  Persia,  fell  under 
his  sway.  Rome  pushed  out  the  highways  of  her 
power,  and  over  them  her  legions  marched  to  bind 
all  nations  under  the  yoke  of  the  Caesars.  Out  from 
the  chaos  of  the  Middle  Ages,  evoked  by  the  master 
genius  of  Charlemagne,  even  from  her  own  ruins, 
the  spirit  of  imperial  Rome  came  forth  to  rule  again. 
But  not  one  of  these  gigantic  systems  was  strong 


56  WINNING  ORATIONS 

enough  to  give  it  permanence.  And  America!  What 
of  her?  Her  people  are  substantially  of  one  race 
and  of  one  political  faith.  But  this  is  not  enough. 
The  instinct  of  self-interest  is  that  which  men  every- 
where most  constantly  obey.  In  this  country  com- 
mercial interests  are  supreme.  The  pursuit  of 
wealth  is  the  all-absorbing  master  passion  of  our 
time.  It  moulds  the  opinions  of  men.  It  warps 
the  decrees  of  justice,  and  supplants  with  jarring 
discords  the  harmony  of  peace.  As  once  it  raised 
the  standards  of  treason  in  the  South,  so  today 
it  is  marshalling  under  defiant  banners  the  hosts  of 
toil.  It  has  already,  upon  at  least  one  vital  issue, 
arrayed  the  East  and  West  against  each  other. 

Capacity  for  self-government  is  the  marked 
characteristic  of  the  Saxon  race.  In  the  twentieth 
century,  whose  dawn  is  breaking  even  now,  it  will 
meet  in  this  country  its  decisive  test.  As  our  popu- 
lation multiplies,  as  the  circle  of  our  material  inter- 
ests widens,  the  unseen  power  which  binds  the 
whole  must  have  a  corresponding  growth,  and  the 
essence  of  that  power  shall  be  the  nation's  love  of 
liberty  and  its  respect  for  law.  May  these  two 
forces  be  welded  into  one.  Then  shall  the  union 
stand,  between  the  tides  that  swell  upon  its  shores, 
as  the  world's  defense  for  freedom  and  for  free- 
dom's law, — the  fulfillment  of  Homer's  vision  as  he 
saw  it  mirrored  in  Achilles'  shield: 

Now,  the  broad  shield  complete,  the  Artist  crowned, 
With  his  last  hand,  and  poured  the  ocean  round ; 
In  living  silver  seemed  the  waves  to  roll, 
And  beat  the  buckler's  verge,  and  bound  the  whole. 


EIGHTH  CONTEST  (1895) 
ROBERT  BURNS 

(A.  B.  ROWELL,  YANKTON  COLLEGE) 


The  man  within  whose  breast  there  burns  the 
flame  of  genius,  can  never  die,  can  never  be  for- 
gotten. His  own  age  may  treat  him  with  indiffer- 
ence, may  even  scourge  him  with  the  stinging  lash 
of  censure;  but  a  later  age  will  lift  him  high  above 
the  common  mass  and  pay  him  rightful  homage. 
When  his  soul^  freed  from  its  earthly  wrappings, 
is  laid  bare  in  its  simplicity,  then  men  see  aright 
and  understand  the  mighty  passions,  the  world- 
wide thoughts  that  have  throbbed  within  him. 
When  the  mists  of  time  have  gathered  'round  him, 
and  have  softened  the  stern  outline,  and  concealed 
eccentricities  and  faults,  then  appears  nothing  but 
grandeur,  is  felt  nothing  but  awe.  Many  a  genius 
has  toiled  on  in  poverty  and  reproach  and  dropped 
into  a  lowly  grave,  only  to  be  reverenced  in  after 
years.  Not  even  the  divine  Christ  could  receive 
from  his  fellowmen  more  in  return  for  his  love  than 
the  cross  and  the  crown  of  thorns.  Among  the 
saddest  of  these  personal  histories  is  the  story  of 
the  life  of  Robert  Burns,  sad,  because  it  tells  of  a 
soul  that  soared  to  the  loftiest  heights  and  then 
sank  beneath  a  burden  of  poverty  and  bitter  deg- 
radation. 

A  century  has  passed  since  this  greatest  of 
Scotland's  bards  laid  down  his  lyre,  a  century  of 
change,  of  tumult  and  confusion.  The  millions  of 
the  oppressed  have  proclaimed  the  dignity  of  man; 
have  risen  in  their  might  and  burst  asunder  the 
bonds  that  held  them;  minds  groping  for  the  light, 
have  pushed  through  the  restraining  barriers  of 


58  WINNING  ORATIONS 

dogmas  and  tradition,  out  into  the  broader  realm  of 
freedom  and  of  truth.  Among  the  first  to  sound 
the  notes  of  progress  in  this  vast  upheaval,  was  the 
simple  poet,  Robert  Burns,  and  even  to  this  day  his 
voice  still  rings  for  larger  freedom  and  is  heard 
where'er  true  men  are  found.  He  draws  to  him 
with  gentlest  tones  those  souls  that  plead  for  sym- 
pathy. He  holds  within  his  grasp,  to  do  with  them 
as  he  will,  the  hearts  of  men.  Whether  it  be  in  the 
humble  cottage  of  the  peasant  or  in  the  palace  of 
the  rich,  there  are  found  his  friends. 

At  the  time  when  he  first  poured  forth  his 
heart  in  song,  Scottish  patriotism  was  almost  dead. 
The  men  who  led  in  literature  and  in  art,  turned 
their  eyes  away  from  the  possibilities  of  their  native 
land  and  sought  to  ape  the  work  of  others.  Poor 
imitators,  unfitted  by  their  very  training  to  strike 
out  in  unknown  paths,  disdaining  the  simple  and 
lowly  life  of  their  countrymen,  they  were  unable 
to  awaken  one  single  spark  of  national  pride.  There 
was  still  need  of  someone  who  could  call  to  life 
again  those  sturdy  peasants,  who,  under  William 
Wallace,  had  fought  so  bravely  for  their  liberty 
and  their  homes.  Without  warning,  to  the  surprise 
of  all,  this  new  leader  came  from  the  common  people. 
Nothing  but  a  ploughboy,  nothing  but  a  rustic 
youth  courting  country  maidens,  nothing  but  a  lowly 
poet,  he  so  touched  with  coals  of  genius  the  hearts 
of  Scotland's  stalwart  men,  that  they  flamed  with 
patriotic  fire.  Once  again  Scotland  shook  from  her 
wrists  the  chains  of  foreign  customs;  once  again  the 
eyes  of  her  people  were  turned  with  reverence  toward 
one  great  guide,  and  at  the  present  time,  there  is  no 
one  dearer  to  her;  no  one  of  whom  she  is  more 
proud  than  the  rustic  poet,  Robert  Burns. 

In  the  understanding  of  ordinary  men  the 
leader  in  business,  in  politics  or  in  war,  may  rise 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  59 

from  the  lower  ranks,  but  a  leader  in  thought  or  in 
literature,  never.  Environment  may  usually  make 
the  man,  but  in  the  case  of  Burns  this  law  is  broken, 
and  a  noble  soul  rises  to  its  true  level  of  greatness 
in  spite  of  hindrances,  seemingly  all  powerful.  As 
we  contemplate  the  sterile  soil  out  of  which  Burns' 
genius  sprang  and  the  hard  physical  conditions 
under  which  it  throve,  our  minds  are  filled  with 
wonder  and  admiration.  Born  in  a  hut  so  poor  that 
the  storms  of  winter  tore  from  above  his  head  the 
sheltering  roof,  denied  in  his  youth  the  advantages 
of  education  and  contact  with  learned  minds,  forced 
to  gain  his  livelihood  among  the  vulgar  and  im- 
moral, struggling  year  after  year  with  grim  poverty 
and  gaunt  hunger, — in  spite  of  this,  he  was  yet 
able  to  fulfill  the  missions  intrusted  to  him  by  God. 
It  was  not  as  a  philosopher;  it  was  not  as  a 
rhetorician  nor  a  commander  that  he  was  able  to 
mould  the  thoughts  of  others.  None  of  these  char- 
acteristics were  needed  to  make  up  his  power.  His 
might  lay  in  the  fact  that  he  was  a  man,  and  more 
than  that,  a  brother  of  other  men.  No  veneering 
of  social  customs  covered  the  beatings  of  his  heart. 
No  desire  of  gain  urged  him  to  play  falsely  before 
his  fellows.  Deceit  aroused  within  him  all  the  force 
of  righteous  indignation,  and  at  hypocrisy  he  hurled 
the  bitterest  shafts  of  denunciation  and  contempt. 
Born  in  a  place  where 

"Ayr    gurgling    kissed    his    pebbled    shore, 
O'erhung  with   wild  woods  thick'ninj?  grreen." 

reared  in  the  midst  of  hills,  now  green  with  grass, 
now  purple  with  the  heather,  under  a  sky  worthy  to 
belo^r  to  the  poet's  ideal  home,  there  sunk  into  his 
soul  lessons  which  only  nature  could  have  given. 
Around  him  he  saw  a  simple  people,  open-hearted 
as  himself.  He  watched  them  toiling  for  their  daily 
bread.  He  saw  their  pleasures  and  their  pains,  their 


60  WINNING  ORATIONS 

loving  and  their  hating,  their  praying  and  their 
jesting,  and  in  so  doing  he  saw  enacted  the  whole 
great  drama  of  life.  He  might  have  wandered  from 
land  to  land  throughout  the  earth,  and  nowhere 
would  he  have  found  more  true  life  than  in  his 
country  home.  Human  nature,  unfettered,  was  be- 
fore him,  and  without  restraint  he  laid  bare  his 
heart,  quivering  to  receive  the  faintest  impress,  that 
he  might  take  it  and  send  it  forth  in  a  swell  of 
wondrous  song. 

The  poor  and  the  grieving  stretch  forth  their 
hands  for  sympathy,  and  with  gentlest  touch  he 
smooths  away  their  sorrows.  The  smitten  and  the 
oppressed  call  to  him  for  aid,  and  he  bursts  forth 
in  fierce  invectives  against  the  strong  and  mighty. 
Now  he  is  filled  to  overflowing  with  joy  and  hope; 
now  there  are  drawn  from  his  heart-strings  notes 
of  sadness  and  of  pain.  Wild  emotions  course  madly 
through  his  veins,  sweeping  all  before  them,  only  to 
be  followed  by  the  quiet,  peaceful  calm.  One  mo- 
ment he  is  held  in  admiration  of  all  that  is  noble  and 
beautiful  in  man;  the  next  with  scoff  and  sneer  he 
is  bringing  the  haughty  low.  Uniting  so  within 
himself  the  two  extremes  of  mortal  man,  he  awakens 
to  the  sense  of  human  brotherhood,  and  reaches  out 
far  beyond  the  confines  of  his  beloved  Scotia  until 
the  universal  man  comes  beneath  his  magic  touch 
and  feels  the  power  of  his  song. 

Thus  stands  the  poet,  the  greatest  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  crowned  among  the  immortals 
of  his  art. 

Would  that  the  same  praise,  the  same  honor 
might  be  given  to  the  man  himself,  but  alas,  it 
cannot  be.  No  life  more  sad,  more  wretched  in  its 
poverty,  more  fraught  with  mournful  lessons  in  its 
sins  than  that  of  Burns,  has  ever  been  witnessed  by 
the  eyes  of  men.  Within  his  breast  opposing  forces 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  61 

struggled  for  the  mastery.  On  the  one  side  stood  a 
noble  nature,  filled  with  pure  and  holy  thoughts, 
endowed  with  the  keenest  sense  of  right  and  wrong, 
reverential  in  its  tone;  on  the  other,  passions,  dark 
and  turbulent,  fierce  in  their  intensity,  irresistible 
in  their  might;  between  the  two  a  will,  irresolute, 
powerless  to  curb  the  mighty  forces  that  should 
have  moved  in  harmony  at  its  command.  Once  touch 
the  kindling  spark  and  a  roaring  flame  of  passion 
surges  through  the  heart,  licking  up  in  its  raging 
course  all  the  good  and  noble  to  be  found.  With 
brain  seething  and  writhing  in  mad  frenzy,  with 
pulse  leaping  and  throbbing,  the  laws  of  God  and 
man  are  broken  down  and  trodden  under  foot. 
Reason  is  dethroned,  madness  has  full  sway.  On, 
on  and  on  the  soul  is  carried  on  the  crest  of  the 
sinful  wave,  until  lust  reigns  triumphant,  until  the 
beast  has  conquered  the  man.  After  all  is  over,  too 
late,  come  the  bitter  tears  of  anguish,  the  stinging 
pangs  of  shame.  The  man  has  fallen. 

Burns,  thus  swayed  by  passion,  drifted  aimless 
on  the  sea  of  life.  His  heart  was  stirred  by  no  am- 
bition. No  great  purpose  forced  him  on.  Prudence 
and  wisdom  were  thrown  aside  for  thoughtless 
follies  and  hare-brained  fancies.  Had  the  mighty 
powers  at  his  command  been  taught  to  move  in 
unison  to  work  out  the  details  of  some  great  plan, 
had  the  streams  of  passion  been  ever  pure  and  holy, 
how  matchless  would  have  been  the  result,  how  per- 
fect the  man! 

When  we  consider  that  men  ever  see  the  outer 
man  alone,  can  we  wonder  that  his  fellow-men  con- 
demned him?  He  gave  them  the  wealth  of  his 
genius,  and  they  returned  him  poverty.  He  poured 
out  to  them  the  warm  life-blood  of  his  bleeding 
heart  and  received  naught  but  coldness.  He 
stretched  forth  his  hands  to  them,  pleading  for 


62  WINNING  ORATIONS 

sympathy,  and  they  beat  him  back  with  sternness. 
Stung  by  their  indifference,  wounded  by  their 
taunts,  he  rushed  headlong  into  revelry,  in  the  vain 
endeavor  to  stifle  his  cares  and  his  sorrows. 

At  last  the  life  so  full  of  misery  and  pain,  of 
remorse  and  anguish,  draws  to  an  early  close.  With 
head  whitened  by  sorrow,  with  body  wasted  by  dis- 
ease and  sin,  with  heart  filled  with  bitterness  toward 
his  countrymen,  the  man  lies  down  to  die.  Even  in 
his  last  hours  there  comes  to  him  no  peace,  no  quiet, 
and  the  troubled  spirit,  racked  with  anguish  and 
despair,  passes  to  the  presence  of  its  Maker. 

Thus  his  life  is  ended.  As  he  lies  stretched  in 
death,  the  awful  pathos,  the  sombre  tragedy  of  his 
life  presses  upon  his  countrymen  until  they  turn 
to  him  with  pity  and  with  love.  Forgetting  the 
stains  upon  his  honor,  the  scenes  of  debauch  and 
sin,  the  dark  hours  in  which  passion  dragged  him 
from  the  path  of  right,  they  remember  nothing  ex- 
cept that  a  noble  soul,  filled  with  gentleness  and 
kindness,  has  departed  from  them  forever.  With 
eyes  filled  with  tears  of  compassion,  with  lips  mur- 
muring prayers  for  pardon,  they  tenderly  and  rever- 
ently lay  him  in  his  grave. 

"Sweet   mercy !    to    the    gates    of    heaven 
This  minstrel   lead,   his  sins   forgiven  ; 
The  rueful  conflict,  the  heart  riven 

With   vain  endeavor 
And  memory  of  earth's  bitter   leaven, 

Effaced  forever." 

It  is  not  for  us  to  judge.  It  is  for  the  God  of 
heaven,  the  God  of  love. 


NINTH  CONTEST  (1897) 
INDIVIDUALISM 

(W.  F.  EWERT,  YANKTON  COLLEGE) 

The  absolute  worth  of  the  individual  is  the 
basis  of  true  democracy.  Upon  the  recognition  of 
this  vital  truth  hinges  the  success  or  failure  of  self- 
government,  the  hope  and  happiness  of  mankind. 
The  progress  of  society  is  dependent  upon  the  un- 
folding of  those  principles  that  seek  the  highest 
development  of  the  individual.  Freedom  to  think 
and  act  and  share  in  the  responsibilities  of  govern- 
ment is  a  necessary  condition  of  individual  advance- 
ment 

This  political  liberty  has  been  eagerly  sought 
for  in  all  ages;  it  has  often  been  purchased  with 
blood.  It  was  not  obtained  by  a  single  struggle, 
but  its  progress  has  been  slow  and  painful,  step  by 
step. 

The  Magna  Charta  laid  the  foundation  for  mo- 
dern political  freedom;  the  Reformation  swept  away 
the  pall  of  religious  superstition,  destroyed  papal 
tyranny,  and  made  man  accountable  for  his  sins  to 
God  alone;  the  Petition  of  Rights  destroyed  the 
theory  of  the  "Divine  Right  of  Kings"  and  estab- 
lished the  belief  in  the  inalienable  rights  of  man; 
the  American  Constitution  embodied  the  principles 
of  representative  government. 

Political  freedom  has  struck  the  shackles  from 
imprisoned  thought,  and  has  given  birth  to  the  in- 
dividual. Its  growth  has  always  revealed  a  health- 
ful condition  of  society;  its  decline  has  been  the 
harbinger  of  decay. 

Two  centuries  ago  the  spirit  of  the  age  was 
voiced  by  the  declaration  of  Louis  XIV.,  "I  am  the 
State;"  today  representative  government  boldly 


64  WINNING  ORATIONS 

proclaims  as  a  principle  of  modern  social  philosophy 
that  "the  state  is  made  for  man,  not  man  for  the 
state." 

The  state  is  but  the  means;  the  happiness  and 
welfare  of  the  individual  the  end.  Wherever  states 
have  pushed  forward,  over-riding  the  privileges  of 
the  common  man,  ruin  has  inevitably  followed  in 
their  wake.  The  great  empires  founded  by  Alexan- 
der and  Caesar  perished  because  their  greatness  was 
but  the  greatness  of  a  single  man.  With  them  the 
state  represented  by  a  central  power  was  the  ab- 
solute authority  to  which  the  individual  was  com- 
pelled to  submit.  Their  national  greatness  centered 
in  a  single  idea;  now  the  energies  of  man  enter  into 
widely  diversified  avenues  of  life;  tremendous  are 
the  forces  of  modern  civilization;  magnificent  are 
its  possibilities.  Back  of  all  progress  lies  individual 
effort;  back  of  individual  effort  is  the  incentive  of 
final  reward.  This  has  been  the  silent  force  that  has 
wrought  the  mighty  changes  in  our  social  and  in- 
dustrial life.  It  has  sent  men  in  search  of  the 
precious  metals  in  the  depths  of  the  earth;  it  has 
bound  localities  together  with  a  network  of  steel; 
it  has  called  into  being  countless  workshops  and 
factories,  given  wings  to  commerce,  and  converted 
arid  wastes  into  fields  of  waving  grain.  It  has  done 
all  this,  but  it  has  brought  with  it  threatening 
dangers. 

In  a  representative  government  opportunities 
are  presented  for  an  abnormal  development  of  the 
individual.  Man  uses  this  freedom  from  restraint 
for  his  own  selfish  ends,  in  place  of  the  common 
good  of  all.  As  a  result,  democracy  has  become 
perverted  and  individualism  is  once  more  in  danger. 

Gigantic  trusts  and  illegal  combinations  cannot 
long  conduce  to  national  greatness,  for  they  are 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  65 

opposed  to  the  development  of  individualism.  They 
are  the  result  of  misdirected  energy  and  tend  toward 
a  centralization  of  power.  The  mere  fact  that  to- 
day millions  of  human  beings  are  rising  in  their 
might  and  with  stern  determination  are  demand- 
ing the  abolition  of  industrial  tyranny,  is  sufficient 
evidence  that  the  purposes  of  government  have  be- 
come diverted,  and  that  the  improvement  of  the 
condition  of  the  masses  has  not  been  commensurate 
with  the  gigantic  increase  in  the  productive  power 
of  modern  civilization. 

Representative  government  may  guarantee 
equal  rights  to  all  citizens,  but  vice  and  avarice  are 
certain  to  rob  the  individual  of  his  worth,  and  the 
state  of  its  perpetuity.  The  lessons  of  the  hour 
are  plain.  Large  aggregations  of  capital,  controlled 
by  single  men,  which  have  sprung  up  in  the  last 
quarter  of  a  century,  are  crushing  out  free  com- 
petition, the  life  of  trade,  and  destroying  the  op- 
portunities for  the  development  of  the  individual 
man.  The  entire  social  fabric  has  been  shaken,  class 
is  being  arrayed  against  class.  Men  who  have  al- 
ways been  peaceful  and  useful  members  of  society 
are  now  tramps  and  outcasts,  and  capital  itself  has 
disappeared  in  the  universal  lowering  of  values. 

The  true  conception  of  government  and  the 
secret  of  its  success  are  being  lost  sight  of  in  man's 
struggle  for  gain.  The  magnificent  triumphs  of  the 
human  mind  should  be  but  the  agencies  to  lighten 
the  burdens  of  man.  Never  should  they  be  used 
for  the  oppression  of  the  weak.  The  advancement 
of  the  individual  should  keep  pace  with  the  march 
of  civilization.  Man  in  his  primitive  state,  though 
not  always  happy,  was  comparatively  free.  Unless 
the  forces  that  have  built  up  modern  civilization 
have  proportionately  bettered  the  condition  of  those 


66  WINNING  ORATIONS 

who  toil,  industrial  progress  amounts  to  naught, 
government  is  a  farce,  and  civilization  itself  is  a 
failure. 

As  searchers  after  the  truth,  we  cannot  turn  away 
from  the  destitution  to  be  seen  on  every  hand. 
Strange,  is  it  not,  that  with  the  productive  power 
of  the  world  increased  a  hundred,  aye,  a  thousand- 
fold, there  should  be  no  greater  improvement  in  the 
condition  of  the  individual:  strange  that  with  a 
single  loom  doing  the  work  of  a  hundred  men;  a 
single  machine  producing  a  thousand  pair  of  shoes 
where  one  was  made  before;  with  the  magnificent 
engine  spending  tons  of  energy  with  every  pulsa- 
tion of  its  iron  heart;  with  mansions  outshining 
in  splendid  the  magic  palace  of  Aladdin,  and  boule- 
vards eclipsing  the  famous  roads  of  Rome — strange, 
I  say,  that  thousands  should  be  shoeless  and  home- 
less and  penniless,  that  life  for  a  large  portion  of 
mankind  should  be  a  dismal  failure. 

What  does  this  condition  of  things  betoken? 
It  means  that  those  sacred  principles  fought  for  at 
Runnymede  and  Marston  Moor,  baptized  in  the 
blood  of  martyred  heroes  at  Lexington  and  Bunker 
Hill  and  Valley  Forge,  consecrated  by  the  lives  of 
thousands  upon  our  country's  altar  at  Shiloh  and 
Gettysburg  and  Spottsylvania,  are  being  trampled 
under  the  usurping  feet  of  might,  that  greed  is  in- 
vading the  rights  of  individuality,  that  personality 
may  soon  become  the  helpless  slave  of  corporate 
selfishness. 

How  can  this  centralization  of  power  be 
checked,  the  individuality  of  the  citizen  preserved, 
and  the  perpetuity  of  the  state  insured?  Man  must 
see  in  the  mighty  power  of  organized  labor  and 
capital,  not  a  means  to  enslave  some  and  to  enthrone 
others,  but  to  promote  the  general  welfare  and  to 
secure  the  common  blessings  of  liberty.  Instead 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  67 

of  being  appalled  by  the  sight  of  a  hundred  hovels 
standing  over  against  the  millionaire's  palace,  he 
must  remember  that  the  political  power  of  the  one 
is  a  hundredfold  greater  than  that  of  the  other.  The 
outlook  is  not  altogether  dark.  With  a  gradually 
improved  system  of  voting  whereby  the  voter  may 
express  his  own  will  and  not  that  of  the  "boss,"  with 
a  civil  service  on  whose  banner  is  gradually  being 
unfolded  the  motto  "opportunity  for  all  and  privi- 
lege for  none,"  with  the  newspapers  and  magazines 
flying  through  the  land  like  the  shuttle  of  a  mighty 
loom  weaving  into  the  woof  of  the  common  people 
a  sense  of  their  privileges  and  duties — with  these 
things  already  at  hand,  there  opens  in  the  face  of 
our  danger,  a  brighter  prospect  for  the  future.  In 
the  disruption  of  political  parties,  in  the  awakening 
of  the  individual  to  the  dangers  of  the  state,  there 
is  hope  for  better  things.  In  the  future  men  may 
write  of  a  "Triumphant  Democracy,"  but  they  will 
not  be  classed  among  the  nation's  patriots  when 
they  defraud  their  country  by  the  sale  of  bogus 
"Armour  Plates."  Political  parties  will  no  longer 
be  considered  martyrs  to  principles  when  their 
principles  are  established  by  the  million  dollar  con- 
tribution of  the  sugar  trust.  Out  of  the  present 
chaos  there  will  spring  a  new  and  better  dispensa- 
tion in  which  the  individual  will  come  to  his  own. 
The  spurious  individualism  of  selfishness  must  be 
rejected,  and  in  its  place  must  be  substituted  the 
true  individualism  based  upon  the  sacred  treasures 
of  character  rather  than  upon  material  possessions. 
No  longer  must  Mammon  be  allowed  to  crush  be- 
neath his  Juggernaut  wheels  the  lives  of  helpless 
men,  women  and  children.  More  clearly  must  be 
recognized  the  Christian  principle  of  the  worth  of 
man  as  man.  True  individualism  must  manifest  it- 


68  WINNING  ORATIONS 

self  more  strongly.    Men  must  be  more  firm  in  their 
convictions  of  duty  to  themselves  and  the  state. 

It  is  not  always  wise  to  follow  the  wishes  of 
the  majority,  for  there  are  times  when  the  majority 
is  clearly  in  the  wrong.  Every  great  reform  must 
be  wrought  against  strong  opposition.  This  is  the 
supreme  test  of  the  individual.  The  hero  of  the 
hour  must  rise  above  the  clamor  of  the  multitude 
and  in  the  face  of  persecution  and  ridicule  lead  the 
way.  True,  from  the  dawn  of  history  those  who 
have  sought  to  better  the  condition  of  the  individual 
man  have  been  despised  and  rejected  by  their  own 
age,  aye,  some  have  even  suffered  martyrdom;  but 
the  martyr  of  today  is  the  hero  of  tomorrow. 

"Thus    humanity    sweeps    onward:     where    today     the    martyr 

stands, 

On   the  morrow   crouches   Judas   with   the  silver   in   his   hands; 
Far   in   front  the   cross   stands   ready,   and   the   crackling   fagots 

While   the  hooting  mob   of  yesterday   in   silent  awe  return 
To  glean  up  the  scattered  ashes   in   history's  golden   urn." 

Men  come  and  go;  but  their  individual  efforts 
are  their  bequests  to  the  world. 

The  opposing  forces  of  justice  and  avarice  will 
exist  forever,  but  he  who  proves  his  love  for  un- 
titled  humanity  in  its  struggles  against  forbidding 
social  conditions  will  be  enrolled  among  the  names 
in  the  galaxy  of  the  world's  benefactors.  Then  the 
triumph  of  the  individual  will  be  the  triumph  of 
the  state.  Then  the  destiny  of  man  will  find  its 
consummation  in  a  social  structure  perfected  by  the 
highest  individual  development,  in  a  government 
where  the  strong  do  not  oppress  the  weak,  "where 
virtue  is  ever  triumphant  and  vice  is  ever  crushed." 


TENTH  CONTEST   (1897) 
CIVILIZATION  AND  THE  PROPHET 

(MISS    WINIFRED    McVAY.    DAKOTA    UNIVERSITY 

This  oration  also  won  first  prize  in  the  Western  League  of 
Oratory   Contest  held  at  Fargo,   N.   D.,   the  same  year— 1897). 


There  is  that  which  raises  us  above  the  order  of 
the  brute.  There  is  a  spark  of  divinity  that  disturbs 
our  clod.  There  is  a  force  that  has  drawn  humanity 
up  from  savagery  to  nineteenth  century  civilization, 
that  urges  nineteenth  century  humanity  on  to 
heights  of  intelligence,  known  only  to  God. 

Throughout  the  ages  this  force  has  worked  un- 
til now  we  stand  on  the  slope  that  swells  toward 
the  perfection  of  the  race.  We  look  back  upon  dis- 
cord, tears  and  blood;  upon  those  slow  inclines  and 
sadly  frequent  stretches  of  level  where  humanity 
has  blindly  stumbled  up  a  little,  or  groveled  upon 
the  plain;  where  humanity  has  crowded  and  crushed 
brother  humanity  through  centuries  of  darkness  and 
confusion.  We  see  how  man  has  cast  off  his  fetters 
and  climbed  up,  step  by  step,  toward  God  and  day. 
We  recognize  in  the  fact  of  civilization  the  su- 
premest  fact  of  all  history,  and  our  greatest  cause 
for  pride,  is  the  superiority  of  nineteenth  century 
civilization  over  any  of  the  past. 

The  world  of  activity  today,  is  a  world  of  order. 
System  rules.  We  have  cultivated  a  passion  for 
unity.  We  have  no  patience  with  the  poet  who 
sings:  "All  things  here  are  out  of  joint."  Our 
civilization  is  distinct  from  any  of  antiquity  in  its 
eminently  practical  and  critical  sense.  It  decries 
all  leaps  of  faith  and  blunders  of  prophecy.  It 
demands  reason,  reason  in  everything.  No  object 
escapes  the  universal  challenge  "Show  forth  a  pur- 
pose in  existing."  Above  all  is  this  the  age  of 


70  WINNING  ORATIONS 

science.  The  mountains  are  measured  with  plum- 
met and  chain,  our  thoughts  with  the  ferule  of 
criticism;  a  nation  we  test  with  a  law,  a  man  with 
a  principle.  No  field  is  shut  up  from  our  science. 
We  make  us  a  scientific  God  and  a  scientific  Devil, 
a  scientific  Heaven,  and  a  scientific  Hell. 

Consistently  then,  this  critical  age  inquires  of 
civilization,  if  it  be  itself  scientific,  if  there  is  a 
law  for  its  development,  a  law  for  the  progress  of 
society. 

Man  creates  society,  and  history  records  it.  The 
events  of  history  exemplify  the  spiritual  life  of  man- 
kind. The  record  of  government,  is  the  record  of 
man's  advancement,  from  the  exhibition  of  savage 
force,  to  the  exercise  of  civilized  law.  The  record  of 
religion  is  the  record  of  man's  uplift  from  an  abject 
cowering  before  the  terrors  of  Nature  to  an  en- 
nobling worship  of  Nature's  God.  The  record  of 
strife,  is  the  record  of  man's  emancipation  from 
the  argument  of  the  war-club,  the  persuasion  of 
the  fire-brand,  the  art  of  cannibalism,  to  the  argu- 
ment of  justice,  the  persuasion  of  truth,  the  art 
of  arbitration. 

The  steps  in  civilization,  are  steps  in  the  devel- 
opment of  man.  In  every  crisis  of  history,  in  every 
event  that  has  rolled  civilization  forward,  wherever 
progress  of  society  has  been  marked,  is  inevitably 
found  this  other  element,  progress  of  man. 

Greek  civilization  must  not  be  measured  by 
the  glory  of  the  state  nor  by  the  political  weakness 
and  briefness  of  its  existence.  Greek  statehood 
declined,  but  Greek  culture,  wrought  into  the  minds 
of  men,  lived  on — lives  today.  It  is  the  effective- 
ness with  which  it  struck  the  bonds  from  the  intel- 
lect of  man  and  taught  him  to  strive  for  the  noblest 
in  philosophy,  literature  and  art  that  must  ever  be 
the  pride  of  ancient  Grecian  civilization. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  71 

The  glory  of  Rome,  living,  was  the  perfection 
in  philosophy,  literature  and  art  that  must  ever  be 
of  her  civil  system,  the  magnificence  of  her  empire. 
The  glory  of  departed  Rome  is  incarnate  in  her 
Horace,  her  Cicero,  and  Virgil,  and  in  the  principles 
of  justice  in  law. 

Whenever  the  movement  in  civilization  has  been 
retarded  it  has  marked  periods  of  waiting  for  the 
generation  of  spiritual  force  sufficient  to  move  society 
forward.  From  the  fall  of  Rome  until  the  Crusades, 
society  waited.  Not  quietly;  there  was  surging 
to  and  fro.  There  was  a  chaos  of  warring  peoples. 
There  was  confusion  and  blood.  Man,  animated  by 
the  savage  spirit  of  resistance,  dwelt  alone  in  his 
fortified  castle,  without  friends,  save  his  family, 
without  neighbors,  save  enemies.  But  in  Feudalism 
was  nourished  the  noble  character  that  fruited  in 
chivalry.  Here  were  fostered  the  virtues  of  do- 
mestic life.  Here  first  was  placed  upon  the  brow 
of  woman  the  crown  of  honorable  wifehood.  Feudal- 
ism fell  when  man  outgrew  his  feudal  age  and  de- 
manded a  social  system  in  harmony  with  his  im- 
proved spiritual  state. 

The  Crusades,  that  series  of  heroic  movements 
that  swept  over  the  Western  World  turning  the 
tide  of  social  dissolution,  and  setting  it  strongly 
towards  centralization,  swept  Feudalism  away  for- 
ever, and  Christian  Europe,  with  her  unified  nations, 
into  a  first  existence.  The  Crusades  did  more.  They 
made  manifest  the  existence  of  mind  among  the 
masses.  They  deprived  religion  of  its  exclusive 
dominion  in  the  realm  of  thought.  They  gave 
breadth  of  soul  to  the  fanatical  Knights  of  the 
Cross.  They  inspired  a  boldness  that  restlessly  in- 
vaded and  reveled  in  every  realm  of  nature. 

The  Reformation  finished  what  the  Crusades 
began.  It  was  the  climax  of  the  struggle  of  mind 


72  WINNING  ORATIONS 

for  liberty.  It  was  the  successful  insurrection  of 
reason  against  Popery.  It  gave  to  modern  civil- 
ization freedom  of  inquiry  and  liberty  of  conscience. 
Everywhere  progress  of  man  and  progress  of 
society  constitute  the  dual  development  of  humanity. 
Everywhere  the  melioration  of  man,  his  advance- 
ment in  intellect  and  morals  has  advanced  the  state. 
Everywhere  the  melioration  of  society,  improve- 
ments in  laws,  in  the  administration  of  justice  has 
uplifted  the  people.  Everywhere  the  checking  of 
intellectual  development  or  the  decline  of  justice  in 
law  has  retarded  civilization. 

The  development  of  civilization  is  dual.  Is  its 
end  two-fold,  is  it  manifold?  Is  it  the  perfection  of 
the  social  system  as  Rome  thought,  or  the  perfec- 
tion of  religious  hierarchy  as  Popery  taught,  or  the 
perfection  of  mind  as  Eighteenth  Century  Europe 
believed?  No.  The  preponderance  of  the  civil 
principle  led  to  political  tyranny:  Rome  fell:  the 
people  went  free:  civilization  rolled  on!  The  pre- 
ponderance of  the  religious  idea  led  to  tyranny  of 
the  Church:  the  Reformation  struck  off  the  shackles; 
conscience  went  free:  civilization  rolled  on!  The 
preponderance  of  mentality  led  to  the  tyranny  of 
skepticism,  materialism  and  all  the  follies  and  hor- 
rors of  the  so-called  "Reign  of  Reason:"  Christianity 
is  loosening  those  bonds;  the  soul  of  man  will  go 
free  as  civilization  rolls  on! 

Not  states,  nor  creeds,  nor  knowledge  is  the 
supreme  object  of  civilization.  It  is  man  himself. 
Whether  Rome  falls  or  revolutionary  France  floods 
Paris'  streets  with  blood,  civilization  advances,  bear- 
ing humanity  through  confusion  and  terrors  to  the 
perfection  of  peace,  which  is  the  perfection  of  lib- 
erty. 

Civilization  is  a  science:  it  is  the  science  of 
man's  subjective  development.  There  is  a  law  of 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  73 

civilization:  it  is  the  law  of  spiritual  freedom. 

We  hold  up  now  in  the  critical  light  of  this 
most  scientific  age  the  fact  of  our  own  American 
civilization  and  ask:  Can  it  stand  the  test  of  proph- 
ecy? Is  the  issue  of  our  many  splendored  nation 
wrapt  in  a  scroll  of  darkness  or  blazoned  on  the 
sheets  of  light?  Is  the  day  of  the  prophet  ended? 

Are  not  the  voices  of  our  illustrious  dead,  our 
Washingtons,  our  Sumners,  our  Phillips,  our  Lin- 
coins  calling  to  us,  "Is  America  free?"  Is  she  gov- 
erned morally  or  by  force?  By  principles  of  social 
sovereignty  or  by  principles  of  savagery?  Are  we 
still  the  freest  people  the  world  has  ever  known,  the 
most  enlightened,  the  most  subject  to  moral  govern- 
ment? We  are  at  peace  while  the  rest  of  the  world 
is  bristling  with  armies  and  bloody  with  wars.  But 
evils  dark  and  terrible  exist,  and  posterity  will  judge 
our  civilization  by  its  unjust  as  well  as  by  its  just, 
by  the  misery  of  its  one-tenth  as  well  as  by  the 
happiness  of  its  nine-tenths.  Alienation  of  classes 
is  loosening  the  ties  of  brotherhood  and  the  wedge 
of  fratridcidal  hate  is  forcing  its  merciless  point 
into  the  heart  of  society.  Is  America  wholly  free? 
Is  there  nothing  more  to  be  done? 

Is  America  free,  while  industrial  tyranny  drives 
fainting  men  to  hopeless  tasks,  tortures  them  to 
insanity,  and  crushes  them  into  suicidal  graves?  Is 
this  not  slavery?  Shall  it  not  be  called  physical 
bondage? 

Is  America  free,  while  thousands  of  human 
forms  slink  for  food  along  darkened  alleys,  devour- 
ing the  poison  of  the  gutter,  and  hiding  at  night 
in  a  resting  place  of  rags,  in  woe  indescribable? 
While  slums  exist — populous  cities  of  misery  and 
crime — liberty  cannot  be  shouted  abroad  in  the  land. 
Poverty  is  slavery,  physical,  mental  and  moral. 


74  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Is  America  free  while  diabolical  appetite  cruci- 
fies two  thousand  souls  a  year?  While  lust  un- 
blushing dwells  among  us,  and  the  Scarlet  Letter 
burns  deep  into  the  bosom  of  society?  While 
thieves  and  murderers  fill  our  prisons?  While 
paupers,  maniacs  and  waifs  of  unhallowed  parent- 
age crowd  our  asylums?  Man  is  yet  a  slave  to 
greed,  to  appetite,  to  sin. 

What  must  be  the  task  of  the  liberator?  The 
power  of  law  must  restrain  the  despotism  of  ac- 
cumulated wealth.  It  is  infringing  the  rights  of 
labor  and  economic  freedom.  It  is  dictating  state 
policy  and  working  political  corruption.  It  is  bias- 
ing legislation  and  warping  the  justice  out  of  civil 
enactment. 

Law  alone  cannot  make  men  prosperous  or 
happy,  but  law  can  give  to  every  man  an  equal 
opportunity  and  an  equal  protection.  Society  estab- 
lished upon  any  other  principle  than  community  of 
interests,  than  the  brotherhood  of  all  cannot  per- 
manently stand.  So  Christ  taught,  so  history  con- 
firms. Godless  industry  and  Godless  politics  are  as 
much  in  need  of  a  Redeemer  as  Godless  religion. 

Weave  the  strong  fibre  of  Christian  altruism 
into  politics,  establish  commercial  relations  in  Chris- 
tian honor  and  integrity  and  governmental  and  in- 
dustrial oppression  will  be  no  more.  Seal  up  for- 
ever those  bitter  fountains  of  despair  whereof  the 
people  drink  and  perish — four  thousand  suicides  a 
year!  No  longer  leave  eight  million  American 
youth  un-schooled.  Learn  the  sad  lesson  of  the 
eighty-six  thousand  Wearers-of-the-Stripes  that 
know  no  trade  but  law-breaking,  no  education  but 
crime.  Let  not  the  future  show  that  America 
established  a  nation  in  justice  and  liberty  and  then 
fell  to  gathering  riches  into  her  bosom,  and  filling 
her  eyes  with  the  pride  of  her  republic,  while 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  75 

avarice,  ignorance  and  sin  were  permitted  to  work  the 
corruption  of  her  people  and  destruction  of  her  state. 

A  republic  exists  in  the  intelligence  and  morality 
of  its  people.  A  republic  lives  in  the  pure  hearts, 
in  the  wise  judgments,  in  the  clean  lives  of  its 
people.  American  republicanism  is  rearing  with 
eager  confidence  a  glorious  temple  to  civilization. 
The  foundation  is  laid  in  freedom  of  thought  and 
liberty  of  conscience.  The  key-stone  of  the  arched 
door-way,  through  which  all  nations  enter,  is  equal- 
ity. She  has  topped  the  structure  with  a  gilded 
dome  of  civic  excellence,  and  has  run  up  glittering 
spires  of  commercial,  literary  and  scientific  achieve- 
ments: but  a  sightless  Samson  of  tortured  and 
desperate  humanity  is  feeling  for  the  supporting 
columns.  Will  the  temple  fall? 

Let  the  age  itself,  boldly  claimed  for  science, 
stand  the  test  of  science.  Let  it  prophesy: — A  rose 
has  no  surer  death  than  the  worm  at  its  heart,  a 
man,  no  more  fatal  foe  than  the  evil  in  his  own 
soul.  An  army  knows  no  greater  danger  than  the 
traitor  in  its  camp,  a  republic  no  surer  destruction 
than  its  own  people  enslaved  in  ignorance,  greed 
and  sin.  Bring  education,  bring  enlightenment! 
Lift  up,  purify,  Christianize,  lest  our  greatness  be 
brought  low,  or  statehood  perish  and  our  boasted 
civilization  crumble  into  dust! 

We  are  the  latest,  the  grandest  people  of 
history.  Are  we  the  last?  Is  the  race  in  us  to 
blossom  into  the  peace  of  perfect  freedom  under 
the  just  laws  of  men  and  the  holy  laws  of  God? 
Or  will  the  ultimate  civilization  know  us  only  as 
a  lost  nation,  one  that  heeded  not  the  warning  of 
its  own  prophecy  until  disaster  seized  it?  Will  the 
future  civilization  spring  from  our  decaying  mold? 
Shall  it  be  written  upon  our  fallen  ruins:  "MENE, 
TEKEL,  UPHARSIN!" 


ELEVENTH  CONTEST   (1898) 
THE  DECLINE  OF  CITIZENSHIP 

E.  T.  COLTON.  DAKOTA  UNIVERSITY 
Also  winner  of  the  Interstate  Contest. 


The  London  Evening  News  announced  the  re- 
sult of  the  Greater  New  York  election  by  this  sig- 
nificant statement: 

"The  population  of  the  second  greatest  city  in 
the  world  has  elected  its  ruler,  and  the  morning 
after  election  the  problems  occupying  his  mind  did 
not  relate  to  the  government  of  the  city,  but  to 
squaring  and  rewarding  his  supporters." 

Such  is  the  dispassionate  view  of  New  World 
statesmanship  from  Old  World  perspective.  It  is 
a  rebuke  to  democratic  despotism,  and  a  stinging 
reproach  upon  superficial  patriotism.  When  the  cos- 
mopolitan press  is  bold  to  reflect  thus  upon  Ameri- 
can citizenship,  the  situation  is  portentous.  What! 
Is  the  spirit  of  Faneuil  Hall  and  Monticello  dead? 
The  spoilsman  violates  a  principle  of  government  as 
fundamental  as  did  George  III.  He  oppressed,  the 
spoilsman  usurps. 

The  usurpation  becomes  manifest  under  an 
analysis  of  government.  Representative  rulers  are 
but  the  interpreters  and  agents  of  a  collective  will. 
The  assertion  of  their  personal  will  is  supreme 
contempt  of  the  inalienable  rights  of  men.  The 
amalgamation  of  interests  in  national  life  does  not 
bind  the  many  and  license  the  few.  It  exchanges 
private  opinion  for  public  sagacity,  and  individual 
influence  for  mass  momentum.  The  crystallization 
of  a  people's  wisdom  is  national  policy,  of  their 
energy,  sovereign  will.  Whatever  is  not  of  these, 
is  tyranny. 

But  government  exists  not  only  by  the  people; 
it  exists  for  the  people.  The  evolution  of  govern« 


78  WINNING  ORATIONS 

mental  functions  and  the  unfolding  of  human  desire 
are  parallel.  The  mission  of  the  state  no  longer 
ends  with  standing  armies  and  teeming  commerce. 
Statecraft  accompanies  man  in  his  higher  walks, 
and  extends  on  into  the  regions  of  his  hope,  where 
away  from  intrigue  and  clank  of  gold,  destiny  drops 
carnal  form  for  the  stately  model  of  a  divine  archi- 
tect— a  hint  of  the  possible,  a  sublime  conviction 
of  human  dignity.  Classified  according  to  their 
recognition  of  this  relation  to  human  development 
there  are  three  great  types  of  state. 

The  first  is  vicious.  The  state  is  changed  from 
means  to  end.  Subjects  are  legitimate  prey.  Bril- 
liancy and  death  distinguish  the  career,  a  meteoric 
flash,  a  trail  of  human  ashes,  a  plunge  into  a  tide 
of  blood — French  Bourbonism. 

The  second  is  lethargic.  Government  and  people 
pause  suddenly  amid  dazzling  prosperity  to  glory  in 
their  civilization.  It  becomes  immaculate.  The  once 
potent  stimuli  of  the  future  deaden.  The  masses 
stagnate.  The  state  disintegrates.  Thus  unhappy 
Judea  decayed  at  the  altars  of  her  past.  Tonight 
her  millions  without  a  country  are  the  unbidden 
guests  of  Gentile  nations. 

The  third  type  grasps  the  truth  that  man  will 
not  forever  endure  oppression;  that  he  languishes 
in  luxury;  that  he  seeks  not  gifts  but  opportunities. 
Therefore,  the  worthy  state  proud  of  her  stalwart 
son  environs  him  with  her  majesty  and  power, 
honors  his  industry,  exalts  his  intelligence,  enthrones 
his  integrity.  Organized  man,  the  patron  of  individ- 
ual man,  is  the  essence  and  justification  of  govern- 
ment. There  has  long  existed  among  nations  a 
deep  conviction  that  the  American  experiment 
would  decide  the  momentous  question:  "Will  govern- 
ment vested  in  the  common  people  endure?"  The 
first  hundred  years  triumphantly  vindicated  the 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  79 

claims  of  freedom.  Birth  pangs  were  forgotten  in 
the  pursuits  of  peace;  the  invader  was  driven  from 
our  border;  the  bond  of  union  was  tested  in  fiery 
trial,  and  came  forth  annealed  by  war  and  blood. 
The  second  century  is  less  auspicious.  While  ma- 
terial achievements  have  no  historic  parallel  and 
baffle  prediction,  popular  sovereignty  has  suffered 
the  double  disgrace  of  betrayal  and  defeat.  Already 
the  partisans  of  monarchy  are  jubilant.  Shall  we 
be  longer  deaf  to  the  stubborn  logic  of  facts? 

The  impending  dangers  have  not  sprung  from 
new  or  transient  sources.  They  belong  to  a  genus 
that  breeds  in  human  nature,  and  is  nourished  by 
the  centuries.  Our  civilization  has  developed  two 
ancient  foes  of  democracy,  class  rule  and  mobile 
centers  of  population.  Their  respective  units  are 
the  politician  and  the  great  city.  American  politics 
is  feudalized.  Its  barons  are  bosses.  Their  castles 
are  cities.  Their  fiefs  are  states.  The  logical  out- 
come will  be  a  national  league  of  lords.  The  wide- 
spread supremacy  of  ring  methods,  and  the  pheno- 
menal growth  of  cities  have  already  placed  this  ulti- 
matum beyond  the  stage  of  prophecy. 

The  rise  of  class  rule  makes  the  passing  quarter 
century  epochal.  Historians  will  define  the  period 
when  dominion  lapsed  from  a  nation  of  thinkers  to  a 
coterie  of  traders.  Behold  the  genius  of  this  blood- 
less revolution — the  professional  politician.  He 
rules  for  a  livelihood  and  trades  in  public  trust. 
Great  convictions  cannot  control  his  unmoral  nature. 
He  champions  good  or  evil  as  votes  abound,  and 
weighs  public  measures  by  revenue  and  pluralities. 
Dearer  than  the  interests  of  home  and  country  are 
the  dollars  of  the  Sugar  Trust,  and  the  voting  ver- 
min of  the  divekeeper.  Denying  kindred  and  native 
land,  this  creature  dwells  at  the  antipode  of  states- 


80  WINNING  ORATIONS 

manship — the  re-embodied  heresy  of  "state  for  its 
own  sake." 

Representative  government  assumes  to  gather 
in  its  councils  the  purity  and  wisdom  of  the  nation. 
Professional  politics  has  brought  what?  Integrity 
and  ability  are  either  proscribed  from  office  or  de- 
graded by  forces  behind  the  scenes.  Anomalies  too 
common  to  excite  comment  are  low  rate  lawyers  on 
the  bench,  mediocrity  controlling  public  boards  and 
commissions,  ex-pugilists  in  Congress,  Thomas  Platt 
and  Arthur  Gorman  wearing  the  mantles  of  Hamil- 
ton and  Dr.  Franklin.  If  this  be  the  drift  of  Ameri- 
can life,  it  is  the  ebb  of  another  civilization. 

The  status  of  our  civic  problems  attests  a 
regime  either  of  incompetence  or  venality.  Party 
platforms  are  burdened  with  the  accumulated  issues 
of  twenty  years.  The  Negro  still  sensual  and  illiter- 
ate is,  by  his  life-long  friends,  apparently  forgotten. 
Foreign  immigration  continues  to  inundate  our  in- 
stitutions. The  recriminations  incident  to  every 
tariff  revision  place  ultimate  solution  farther  away. 
The  Interstate  Commerce  fiasco,  heralded  as  a  tri- 
umph of  Senatorial  jurisprudence,  has  been  shattered 
piecemeal  by  inferior  courts  and  railroad  counsel. 
And  even  now,  with  panic  behind  and  national  honor 
in  prospective,  the  present  Congress  cannot  conduct 
a  great  financial  conflict  above  the  plane  of  guerrilla 
warfare. 

But  national  spoilsmen  are  antiquated.  The  new 
school  fight  in  the  open,  are  no  longer  the  mob,  but 
the  regular  army.  Their  leader  is  not  a  brigand 
lying  in  wait  for  a  luckless  traveler,  he  is  a  general 
foraging  for  his  regiments.  Municipal  misrule  has 
attained  the  dignity  of  a  science.  Tammany  Hall, 
the  terror  of  good  citizens,  is  the  perfection  of  mo- 
dern methods  and  the  envy  of  aspiring  contem- 
poraries. That  pre-eminent  career  of  triumph 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  81 

follows  no  lucky  star,  its  abuses  are  not  prompted 
by  peculiar  depravity.  The  colossal  ring  rules  by 
the  law  of  price  and  steals  by  schedule.  Organiza- 
tion makes  sachems  millionaires,  and  Richard  Croker 
the  despot  of  a  larger  population  than  Washington 
made  free,  and  an  empire  richer  than  the  Con- 
federacy. 

The  future  program  of  the  boss  is  nationaliza- 
tion. The  certain  preponderance  of  urban  popula- 
tion, with  its  notorious  subservience  to  machine 
politics,  allures  unchecked  ambition,  and  constitutes 
the  most  serious  problem  that  American  government 
will  carry  into  the  twentieth  century. 

Our  cities  are  growing  two  hundred  and  forty- 
five  per  cent  faster  than  the  general  population 
In  1860  one-sixth  were  in  cities  above  the  eight 
thousand  class.  Today  one-third  are  there;  tomor 
row  there  will  be  a  majority — a  condition  already 
realized  in  several  states. 

This  rapid  increment  of  cities  must  augment 
the  period  to  democracy,  and  impatient  cunning 
anticipates  natural  forces  by  consolidation.  The  day 
of  counter  rings  merges  into  the  day  of  ring  com- 
binations. Greater  New  York  alone  cannot  dominate 
Empire  politics,  but  a  triple  alliance  with  Albany 
and  Buffalo  is  supreme.  Pittsburg  and  Philadelphia 
jointly  rule  our  richest  commonwealth.  Illinois  is 
the  creature  of  Chicago.  The  fraternal  bond  is  inter- 
state, and  the  mayor  of  the  western  metropolis, 
whose  potency  lingers  in  a  name  linked  with  two 
generations  of  civic  abomination,  travels  half  the 
continent  to  lend  his  magic  presence  against  good 
government.  The  champion  of  corruption,  whom  he 
helped  enthrone,  now  heads  an  open  conspiracy  to 
nominate  a  candidate  for  the  presidency. 

Is  an  inter-partisan  league  a  chimera  of  the 
imagination?  A  greater  vagary  is  the  artificial  dis- 


82  WINNING  ORATIONS 

tinction  between  spoilsmen.  They  present  an  un- 
broken line  on  every  issue  essential  to  our  civiliza- 
tion. '  They  cripple  education — ignorance  is  blind. 
They  do  not  lay  a  finger's  weight  upon  foreign  im- 
migration, the  bulwark  of  railroad  caucusing  and 
snap  conventions.  They  do  not  bankrupt  the  cam- 
paign treasury  by  opposing  corporations.  Vice  goes 
unchallenged — it  is  wiser  than  virtue,  and  knows 
its  friends.  The  modern  boss  stands  between  this 
people  and  their  destiny.  New  citizen  generation, 
will  you  be  the  agent  of  his  coronation  or  his  down- 
fall? 

Experience  has  demonstrated  that  there  is  no 
relief  in  party  panaceas.  Organizations  rise  and 
decline  in  power,  new  growths  succeed  the  old,  but 
the  manipulator  is  omnipresent  and  perennial. 
Turning  out  laden  rascals  to  make  room  for  a  fasted 
horde  is  progress  in  a  circle.  Revolution  is  not 
regeneration. 

Arraignment  of  the  politician  alone  is  equally 
futile  and  grossly  unjust.  The  amputation  of  a 
member  does  not  purge  the  system  of  blood  disease. 
The  sacrifice  of  individuals  does  not  atone  for  na- 
tional sin.  Let  a  summons  reverberate  across  the 
Western  World  calling  to  political  judgment  the 
American  people.  Whether  seeking  a  cure  or  a 
victim,  why  not  begin  at  the  beginning? 

What  has  replaced  the  spirit  of  the  Pilgrims 
and  Minute  Men?  The  spirit  of  the  stock  exchange 
and  wheat  pit.  American  life  in  the  delirium  of  a 
passion  for  gain  has  forsaken  the  highways  to  hu- 
man greatness  for  the  vulgar  court  of  riches.  A 
nation  foremost  in  the  quest  for  human  rights 
swerved  at  a  "yellow  gleam  across  the  world,  and 
where  it  smote  the  plowshare  in  the  field,  the  plow- 
man left  his  plowing  and  fell  down  before  it;  where 
it  glittered  on  her  pail,  the  milkmaid  left  her  milk- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  83 

ing  and  fell  down  before  it."  Commercialism  has 
transformed  a  great  common  people,  not  into  mil- 
lionaires and  tramps,  but  into  millionaires,  full 
grown  and  embryonic.  The  same  mighty  magician 
breathed  the  firedamp  of  personal  greed  upon  public 
spirit. 

The  crime  of  the  politician  consists  in  fidelity  to 
the  spirit  of  his  age,  and  the  exercise  of  its  busi- 
ness sense.  In  a  mercenary  age  he  made  merchan- 
dise of  the  state.  A  motley  host,  moved  by  money 
lust  to  prey  upon  society,  were  pressing  forward 
to  buy  indulgence,  and  he  sold  it;  while  citizen- 
ship abdicated  the  throne  of  this  citizen- 
empire  to  pursue  the  fleeting  image  of  a  golden  god. 
The  dying  century  brings  us  to  the  summit  of 
the  divide.  The  iridescent  dream  of  fortune  shades 
into  a  dark  reality  where  the  dual  monarchs, 
monopoly  and  vice,  hold  high  carnival.  Citizens  re- 
turning to  duty  by  legions  cry  "legislate,"  but  the 
occupants  of  the  abandoned  State  House  mock  them 
with  Allen  bills  and  license  laws.  They  cry  to  the 
masses  "vote"  and  are  answered  by  a  new  oath  of 
allegiance  to  Crokerism. 

There  will  be  a  weary  waiting  ere  the  old  time 
dynasty  of  kingly  men  returns  to  power.  The 
standards  of  a  people  are  not  the  product  of  a  mo- 
ment, they  are  not  destroyed  by  a  breath.  Captivity 
to  corruption  will  disappear  with  the  idolatry  of 
wealth.  Righteousness  will  reign  when  the  father 
of  the  lisping  citizen  places  character  above  cunning, 
and  Garrison  above  Gould;  when  his  mother  knows 
ethics  as  she  knows  the  fashion  plate;  when  piety 
finds  the  primary;  when  business  men  scrutinize  a 
congressman  as  they  do  a  cashier;  when  plowshares 
rest  and  furnace  fires  go  out  election  day;  when 
college  recluses  are  Seth  Lows,  lawyers  are  Choates, 
and  preachers  Parkhursts. 


84  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Hail,  Civic  Federation!  Hail,  Christian  Citizen! 
Hail,  Henry  George,  first  fallen  chief!  Citizenship 
makes  its  final  stand  upon  an  eminence  more  lofty 
than  Mont  Saint  Jean.  On  the  plain  below,  the 
glittering1  arms  of  Mammon  marshal  in  the  confi- 
dence of  a  hundred  victories.  The  splendid  pageant 
moves  our  shifting  senses  to  exclaim,  "magnificent!" 
but  our  regenerate  spirit  discerns  the  death  that 
follows  in  its  wake.  Is  the  conflict  long,  "Lord 
God  of  Hosts,  be  with  us  yet,  lest  we  forget,  lest 
we  forget." 


TWELFTH  CONTEST  (1899) 
OUR  SOCIAL  CRISIS 

(H.  A.  RODEE.  DAKOTA  UNIVERSITY) 

On  June  the  4th,  1897,  in  the  home  state  of  the 
President  of  the  American  Republic,  the  chief 
magistrate  of  seventy  millions  of  people,  an  un- 
fortunate human  being,  without  trial  or  sentence, 
met  a  horrible  death  at  the  hands  of  an  infuriated 
mob.  Upon  the  tomb  of  this  unfortunate  man  should 
be  written:  "Here  lies  Charles  Mitchell,  murdered 
by  Enlightenment,  in  the  name  of  the  Law." 

Such  an  atrocity  in  the  very  center  of  the 
world's  civilization  is  an  occasion  for  startling  in- 
quiry. Labored  the  founders  of  our  political  in- 
stitutions in  vain?  Is  the  domestic  tranquility 
vouchsafed  to  us  by  the  organic  law  of  our  land 
an  abandoned  hope? 

The  spirit  of  mob  violence  and  the  Jeffersonian 
principle  of  human  liberty  can  never  be  harmonized 
to  form  a  basis  of  social  conduct.  They  are  irrecon- 
cilable. The  former  presents  the  outburst  of  un- 
controlled passion.  With  no  respect  for  property  or 
human  life  it  perpetrates  public  crimes  to  atone  for 
private  injuries.  In  times  of  war  it  extirpates  an 
Acadian  peasantry,  exiles  the  brave  patriots  of  Po- 
land, storms  the  infamous  Bastile  and  rejoices  over 
the  destruction  of  the  Imperial  Household.  In  times 
of  peace  it  dynamites  the  Royal  Palace  of  the  Czars, 
precipitates  a  race  war  in  the  New  South  and  stains 
the  pavement  of  Haymarket  with  innocent  blood. 

The  spirit  of  freedom  is  not  so.  It  is  the  noble 
expression  of  a  patriotic  sentiment  constituting  the 
active  impulse  in  such  lives  as  those  of  Garabaldi 
and  Abraham  Lincoln.  It  has  been  a  ceaseless  in- 
spiration to  the  reformers  of  every  age.  Through 


86  WINNING  ORATIONS 

its  influence  the  name  of  a  reluctant  monarch  was 
subscribed  to  the  great  Magna  Charta,  through  its 
power  it  curbed  ecclesiastical  rule  in  temporal  affairs 
and  substituted  popular  government  for  the  Divine 
Right  of  Kings. 

Thus  do  liberty  and  violence  become  opposing 
forces,  born  of  discordant  elements:  the  one  rooted 
in  the  primitive  savagism  of  the  individual;  the 
other  grounded  deep  in  the  humanitarian  spirit  of 
organized  society.  The  advancement  of  a  nation, 
therefore,  depends  upon  the  adjustment  of  these  two 
factors,  the  individual  on  the  one  hand  to  society  on 
the  other. 

Individual  man  is  a  paramount  agency  in  both 
human  upbuilding  and  human  destruction.  The  one 
gave  to  the  world  a  Charlemagne,  the  other  a  Nero; 
the  one  an  Alfred  the  Great;  the  other  a  Louis  the 
XIV.  The  individual  is  the  precipitant  of  anarchy  as 
well  as  the  stimulus  to  progress.  From  the  influ- 
ence of  a  Robespierre  or  a  Patrick  Henry  there  may 
come  French  Reign  of  Terror  or  New  World  Re- 
public. 

Society  also  is  a  power  for  good  or  for  evil. 
Social  organism  is  the  creation  of  individual  man. 
He  is  its  unit,  the  nucleus  of  its  power,  the  origin 
of  its  disintegration.  Human  society  is  but  the 
magnified  representation  of  its  integral  parts.  It 
can  neither  rise  above  them  nor  fall  below  them. 

As  a  power  for  good  society  conserves  and 
economizes  human  energy.  It  makes  possible  the 
telegraph,  the  railroad,  the  chautauqua  and  the  city. 
It  gives  us  the  university,  the  church,  the  asylum 
and  the  hospital.  It  binds  all  interests  together  and 
distributes  all  blessings  equally.  It  develops  the 
humane  spirit  and  cements  the  bonds  of  universal 
brotherhood.  Is  there  suffering  in  our  own  land? 
Then  with  compassionate  heart  charity  goes  forth 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  87 

into  the  darkness  of  tenement  and  slum.  It  places 
healing  medicines  by  pallets  of  sickness,  furnishes 
nourishing  food  for  barren  tables  and  folds  a  com- 
forting shawl  about  shivering  shoulders.  Is  there 
starvation  in  Russia?  Then  our  own  hearts  are  sad 
and  our  treasures  speed  swiftly  at  the  call  of  des- 
titution. Thus  in  the  name  of  humanity  and  liberty 
the  Red  Cross  Society  and  the  American  army  have 
rescued  the  survivors  of  three  centuries  of  Spanish 
barbarity. 

On  the  other  hand  the  crimes  and  outrages 
committed  by  society  are  appalling.  As  a  power  for 
evil  society  has  defended  the  slave  driver  and  his 
whipping  post  and  with  cruel  complacency  impris- 
oned a  John  Bunyan.  We  behold  with  horror  the 
forms  of  Savonarola  and  Joan  of  Arc  consumed  in 
torturing  flames  in  the  midst  of  a  maddened  multi- 
tude, or  call  out  against  oppression  in  contempla- 
ting the  slow  decimation  of  the  living  in  the  rack 
rent  of  the  Irish  peasantry,  the  persecution  of  the 
Armenians  and  the  starvation  of  the  Cuban  recon- 
centrados. 

The  same  oscillation  in  a  varied  degree  inheres 
in  all  mankind.  It  is  not  confined  with  geographical 
limits.  It  exists  under  every  form  of  government. 
Thousands  of  marble  headstones  in  national  cemetery 
and  southern  battlefield  are  solemn  witnesses  which 
attest  the  awful  penalty  paid  to  expiate  our  own 
constitutional  wrong.  But  the  Emancipation  Pro- 
clamation did  not  alter  men's  natures.  It  did  not 
destroy  the  spirit  of  oppression.  The  frequent  mo- 
bilization of  state  militia  along  our  public  thorough- 
fares and  highways  and  the  presence  of  federal 
troops  in  the  city  of  Chicago  indicate  what?  In- 
dustrial revolution?  Yes.  Industrial  freedom?  No. 

Men's  ideals  have  changed.  The  reign  of  the 
Planter  has  ended,  the  reign  of  the  Millionaire  has 


83  WINNING  ORATIONS 

begun.  Commerce  has  overshadowed  philanthropy 
and  statecraft.  The  unprecedented  opportunities 
for  acquiring  wealth  and  position  have  absorbed 
the  minds  of  men.  The  exalted  ideal  of  public  duty 
has  been  compromised  to  satisfy  the  insatiate  lust 
of  personal  ambition.  Accumulated  dollars  is  as 
great  a  recommendation  to  public  position  as  duties 
performed.  Cunning  competes  with  intelligence  in 
the  battle  of  life.  It  is  more  practical  to  compute 
interest  and  clip  coupons  than  to  follow  the  Golden 
Commandment.  Desire  for  distinction  in  the  count- 
ing room  and  the  stock  exchange  is  primary  to  the 
fulfillment  of  life's  nobler  purposes.  Politics  is  de- 
graded by  duplicity,  and  fidelity  to  party  rather 
than  service  to  country  secures  the  emoluments  of 
citizenship.  The  illustrious  patriotism  of  Robert 
Morris  and  Daniel  Webster  is  apparently  forgotten, 
while  the  public  admiration  is  deeply  aroused  by 
the  business  sagacity  and  herculean  plans  of  a  Pier- 
pont  Morgan. 

The  transformation  has  been  gradual  but  com- 
plete. From  a  republic  of  equal  citizens  with  demo- 
cratic principles  there  has  come  a  dynasty  of  in- 
dustrial despotism.  We  have  enthroned  a  hierarchy 
of  political  kings  and  commercial  potentates.  The 
combination  is  irresistable.  Each  dependent  upon 
the  other,  they  double  their  strength  by  uniting 
their  forces.  What  shall  be  the  issue  of  such  a 
coalition?  What  has  it  already  accomplished? 
Thoroughly  intrenched  in  the  citadels  of  legislative 
power,  it  defies  the  independence  of  the  citizen  and 
the  majesty  of  the  state.  It  usurps  sovereignty  in 
the  name  of  Crokerism  and  holds  the  people  of  New 
York  City  in  political  bondage.  It  converts  the 
municipality  of  Chicago  into  a  machine  for  corporate 
plunder.  It  sends  Matthew  Quay  and  Arthur  Gor- 
man to  the  halls  of  the  American  congress  to  be- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  89 

tray  the  interests  of  the  great  Common  People.  It 
has  made  possible  the  most  gigantic  monopolies  that 
the  world  has  ever  known.  The  Standard  Oil  Com- 
pany and  the  Coal  Combine  of  multi-millionaires 
have  arisen.  Their  power  is  prodigious.  They  en- 
force their  edicts  and  exact  their  tributes  from  the 
sweat  of  industry  with  a  front  more  invincible  than 
the  point  of  the  bayonet.  The  Sugar  Trust  is  with 
us.  One-fourth  of  a  cent  per  pound  extorted  from 
the  tables  of  the  poor  adds  $40,000,000  to  its  annual 
profits.  While  the  Amalgamated  Steel  Combine, 
with  a  capitalization  of  $200,000,000,  is  heralded  as 
the  commercial  triumph  of  the  centuries.  And  what 
is  the  revelation  in  this?  Unanswerable  statistics 
expose  the  past  and  foretell  the  future.  The  per 
capita  wealth  of  the  United  States  has  trebled  in 
fifty  years.  In  the  same  half  century  our  people 
have  gravitated  to  the  extremes  of  wealth  and 
poverty  more  rapidly  than  hitherto  in  the  history  of 
the  world.  Today  ten  per  cent  of  our  population 
own  seventy  per  cent  of  its  wealth,  while  one-half 
of  seventy  millions  of  people  own  less  than  five  per 
cent  of  our  country's  inheritance.  Industrial  free- 
dom perishes  and  society  languishes,  but  this  is  not 
all.  It  has  ushered  in  an  epoch  of  strife,  of  lawless- 
ness, of  violence.  It  has  given  us  strikes,  lock-outs, 
and  riots,  mob  rule,  lynchings,  boycott,  and  anarchy. 
On  January  17,  1898,  nine  thousand  weavers  at 
New  Bedford,  Massachusetts,  driven  to  despair  by 
a  cruel  and  arbitrary  reduction  of  wages,  dropped 
their  shuttles  with  a  prayer  to  humanity  for  succor. 
The  blasts  of  midwinter  were  upon  them.  Strong 
men,  fragile  women,  and  innocent  children  succumb- 
ing to  cold  and  hunger  lay  down  to  die.  Ten  days 
later,  while  the  moans  of  destitution  still  issued 
from  their  lips,  one  thousand  members  of  the  Manu- 
facturers' Association  held  a  royal  banquet,  costing 


90  WINNING  ORATIONS 

fifteen  dollars  a  plate,  in  the  Waldorf  Astoria  Hotel, 
New  York  City,  to  proclaim  to  the  world  the  revival 
of  business  prosperity.  Prosperity  for  whom? 
Prosperity  for  the  agriculturist,  when  the  Millers' 
Combine  and  the  Board  of  Trade  fix  the  price  of 
produce?  Prosperity  for  the  factory  operatives, 
when  they  are  turned  out  by  thousands  in  the  dead 
of  winter?  Prosperity  for  the  coal  miners,  when 
they  are  shot  to  death  by  hired  assassins?  Pros- 
perity? Prosperity  for  a  few  individuals.  Pros- 
perity that  has  created  corporations  stronger  than 
the  sovereignty  of  states.  Prosperity  that  has  sold 
at  auction  half  a  million  homes  and  mortgaged 
posterity  for  alien  gold.  Prosperity?  Plutocracy! 

The  century  of  the  world's  greatest  achieve- 
ments closes  in  the  turmoil  of  social  agitation.  This 
unrest  is  the  legitimate  product  of  modern  indus- 
trial conditions.  Its  beginning  was  contemporane- 
ous with  the  origin  of  these  evils.  Of  slow,  but 
continuous  development,  it  has  reached  the  climax 
of  governmental  danger — the  point  of  violence. 
The  outlook  is  foreboding.  Violence  is  the  ultimate 
and  most  awful  recourse  of  human  life.  Its  shib- 
boleth is  death.  Its  cataclysm  is  limited  only  by 
the  ferocity  of  human  nature.  Its  harness  is  the 
gallows,  the  guillotine,  the  battle  ax  and  prison  pen. 
Having  its  only  justification  in  rebellion  against 
tyrannical  government  or  the  defense  of  human  life, 
it  is  now  turned  loose  upon  trembling  institutions 
and  helpless  individuals.  The  cry  is  not  to  uphold 
but  to  tear  down,  not  to  protect  but  to  destroy. 

Colossal  effects  must  come  from  a  colossal 
origin.  There  must  be  one  fundamental  cause  of 
anarchy,  one  Goliath  error  in  society.  The  crisis 
has  arisen  from  a  misapprehension  of  human  rights. 
Individuals  banding  together  have  arrogated  to 
themselves  the  right  of  combining  powers  financially 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  91 

and  politically  to  enrich  themselves  legally  at  the 
sacrifice  and  oppression  of  society.  Society  in  turn 
unable  to  endure  this  reign  of  extortion,  resolving 
itself  into  mobs  has  claimed  the  same  right  of  com- 
bination for  violent  and  lawless  resistance.  Thus  is 
the  battle  line  drawn.  Both  in  the  name  of  rights, 
both  in  the  wrong.  Let  mankind  learn  that  rights 
are  inherited  by  virtue  of  birth  and  realized  by  vir- 
tue of  state.  That  rights  are  neither  the  emolu- 
ments nor  offspring  of  corporations,  combines,  mobs 
or  clans  of  any  kind.  That  rights  are  rights  every- 
where, at  all  times  and  for  all  classes. 

The  principle  of  genuine  reform  must  be  evo- 
lutionary not  revolutionary.  People  must  be  edu- 
cated in  the  knowledge  of  social  relations.  The  in- 
dividual should  know  the  inner  circle  of  manhood 
as  well  as  the  outer  circle  of  citizenship.  The  neces- 
sity of  the  times  is  not  for  more  or  diverse  parties 
and  organizations:  the  supreme  need  is  for  men;  men 
of  ability,  men  of  principle,  men  of  sympathy,  men 
who  thoroughly  understand  the  needs  and  rightly 
interpret  the  appeals  of  suffering  humanity. 

We  stand  at  the  daybreak  of  a  new  century. 
Thoughtful  men  gaze  through  the  horoscope  of  the 
future  upon  the  momentous  problems  of  the  race. 
They  are  perplexed  to  discern  whether  we  are  ap- 
proaching the  era  of  our  national  splendor  or  enter- 
ing the  cycle  of  a  long  eclipse.  The  vantage  ground 
which  we  now  occupy  has  been  attained  through  the 
toil  and  travail  of  generations.  Their  course  is 
strewn  with  whitened  skeletons  and  crimsoned  with 
blood.  Conflict  precipitated  in  ignorance  may  close 
in  tragedy,  but  the  apostles  of  progress  in  prophetic 
vision  proclaim  an  eternal  faith.  "For  they  doubt 
not  through  the  ages  one  increasing  purpose  runs, 
and  the  thoughts  of  men  are  widened  with  the 
process  of  the  suns." 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS 

(WALTER  R.  HUBBARD,  HURON  COLLEGE 
In  the  State  Contest  of  1899.  the  oration  of  Walter  R. 
Hubbard.  Huron  College,  won  Second  place,  and  the  oration  of 
H.  A.  Rodee,  Dakota  University,  won  First  place.  In  the 
Inter-State  contest,  these  two  orations  were  reversed — Hubbard 
taking  First  place  and  Rodee.  Second.  Therefore,  both  of 
these  winning  orations  are  given). 


On  the  morning  of  December  8,  1837,  a  multi- 
tude of  eager,  earnest  men  poured  into  Faneuil  hall 
in  Boston.  News  had  come  from  Alton,  Illinois,  of 
the  brutal  murder  of  Lovejoy,  the  fearless  defender 
of  free  speech  and  champion  of  even-handed  justice 
for  the  negro  race.  Conflicting  feeling  swayed  the 
multitude  as  waves  are  driven  by  an  ocean  storm. 
A  part  of  that  surging  crowd  in  Faneuil  hall  had 
come  to  approve  the  action  of  the  murderous  mob. 
A  part  had  come  with  hearts  filled  with  indignation. 

Resolutions  were  offered  condemning  the  action 
of  the  Alton  mob.  The  sentiment  of  the  assembly 
seemed  to  hang  in  the  balance,  when  in  the  gallery 
arose  the  attorney-general  of  the  commonwealth — 
James  Trecothic  Austin.  He  began  to  harrangue 
the  crowded  hall  with  all  the  practical  arts  of  the 
demagogue.  He  heaped  personal  abuse  upon  the 
author  of  the  resolutions,  condemned  Lovejoy  in  un- 
measured terms,  praised  the  "orderly  mob"  which 
wrought  the  editor's  death  and  justified  its  action. 
With  passionate  prejudice  he  turned  the  opinion  of 
the  meeting  against  the  purpose  of  those  who  called 
it  and  when  he  retired  the  old  "Cradle  of  Liberty" 
echoed  to  the  applause  of  his  ignoble  sentiments.  In 
Boston,  in  Faneuil  Hall,  he  who  dared  to  stand  for 
the  freedom  of  the  press  and  for  even-handed  jus- 
tice was  maligned  and  mocked  while  men  approved. 
As  the  crowd  became  a  mob  in  its  mad  applause  it 


94  WINNING  ORATIONS 

seemed  as  if  American  liberty  must  be  strangled 
in  her  very  birth-place.  But  in  the  midst  of  the 
tumult  a  young  man  gained  the  platform  to  uphold 
the  sacred  cause  of  liberty.  With  consummate  tact 
and  skill  he  began  his  reply  and  held  the  vast  audi- 
ence spell-bound  while  he  upheld  the  resolutions  and 
transfixed  with  lightning  anathemas  the  brutal 
apologist  for  murder.  The  old  hall  rocked  with  the 
uproar  of  contending  factions  but  he  held  the 
mastery  and  ceased  only  when  he  had  utterly  over- 
whelmed the  attorney-general  and  his  argument, 
and  had  snatched  complete  victory  from  defeat. 

That  triumphant,  youthful  orator  was  Wendell 
Phillips.  The  nation  was  soon  to  learn  his  name 
and  feel  his  matchless  eloquence  as  he  pleaded  the 
cause  of  a  down-trodden  race  until  she  had  loosed 
the  fetters  of  her  slaves. 

When  we  speak  of  the  abolition  of  slavery  we 
think  only  of  Lincoln's  inspired  proclamation,  for- 
getting that  he,  like  all  statesmen,  was  powerless 
to  take  such  a  measure  of  his  own  volition.  Ameri- 
ca forced  him  to  yield  to  her  will,  and  then  praised 
his  glad  obedience.  But  who  waked  America's 
slumbering  conscience  until  she  cried  to  free  the 
slave?  Who  planted  the  seed  that  blossomed  in  the 
Proclamation  of  Emancipation?  William  Lloyd 
Garrison  and  Wendell  Phillips.  Others  there  were, 
who  rallied  to  their  standard,  but  these  two  stood 
giant-like  among  them.  For  thirty  years  they  had 
cried  like  Israel's  prophets  against  the  nation's  sin. 
But  for  their  work,  Sumner  had  never  reached  the 
Senate,  the  impassioned  philippics  of  Henry  Ward 
Beecher  had  fallen  on  deaf  ears,  and  the  immortal 
"Uncle  Tom's  Cabin"  had  perished,  as  born  out  of 
due  time. 

In  the  early  thirties  when  the  abolition  move- 
ment first  began  to  demand  attention  the  slave 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  95 

power  sat  in  every  high  place,  dominating  the 
thought  and  dictating  the  laws  of  the  country.  It 
was  entrenched  behind  the  Constitution.  It  was 
fostered  by  the  laws.  It  was  upheld  by  vast  money 
power.  When  a  few  brave  men  started  a  crusade 
against  it  they  met  with  an  opposition  fierce  and 
violent  enough  to  have  appalled  any  but  the  most 
dauntless.  Their  meetings  were  broken  up,  their 
leaders  were  mobbed,  their  property  destroyed  and 
themselves  treated  with  every  possible  indignity. 
The  pulpit  thundered  against  them,  defending 
slavery  as  a  Biblical  institution.  The  press 
cursed  them,  while  their  own  publications  were  ex- 
cluded from  the  mails.  Society  scorned  them,  and 
in  the  bitterness  of  its  hate  the  benevolent  state  of 
Georgia  set  a  price  upon  the  head  of  Garrison.  Six- 
ty years  ago  it  was  as  popular  to  be  an  abolitionist 
in  America  as  it  was  to  be  a  Christian  in  Rome  in 
the  times  of  Nero. 

At  this  time  Wendell  Phillips  was  a  young 
lawyer  in  Boston.  Fresh  from  Harvard  College  in 
the  bloom  of  youth,  wealthy  and  eloquent,  he  was 
the  pet  of  Boston  aristrocracy.  A  large  circle  of 
influential  friends  had  high  hopes  for  him  and 
Justice  Story  prophesied  for  him  an  unprecedented 
career.  He  had  a  rapidly  increasing  practice  and 
it  seemed  as  if  he  would  surpass  even  the  fondest 
hopes  of  his  friends.  But  God  had  marked  him  for 
a  nobler  work.  Pure  and  noble  in  his  character,  he 
had  become  convinced  that  slavery  was  a  curse;  but 
he  hesitated  to  join  the  abolition  movement.  By 
such  a  step  he  had  nothing  to  gain  and  everything 
to  lose.  But  right  and  conscience  triumphed,  and, 
after  counting  the  cost,  to  the  disappointment  of  his 
friends  and  the  intense  chagrin  of  his  family,  he 
gave  himself  heart  and  soul  to  the  cause  of  Anti- 
slavery,  conscious  that  he  would  get  no  reward  but 


96  WINNING  ORATIONS 

hisses,  and  have  no  guide  save  the  light  of  his  own 
conscience.  But  ah  "how  far  that  little  candle 
throws  its  beams!"  Upon  the  lyceum  platform,  in 
halls  and  churches  it  grew  to  be  a  beacon-light, 
warning  America  against  shipwreck  on  the  rocks  of 
slavery. 

We  point  to  Lincoln  and  tell  with  pardonable 
pride,  how  he  surmounted  the  obstacles  which 
humble  birth  and  poverty  had  placed  in  his  way. 
A  noble  example!  But  nobler  still  is  the  sight  of 
Wendell  Phillips,  thrusting  back  every  offer  of 
wealth  and  distinction  which  the  world  might  give 
him,  to  become  the  scorned  and  hated  "friend  of 
'niggers,'  "  to  become  helper  and  friend  of  Garrison 
the  "black"  and  hated  abolitionist,  upon  whose  head 
was  set  a  price!  What  American  ever  showed 
greater  moral  courage?  What  reformer  ever  made 
a  greater  sacrifice? 

From  the  moment  he  espoused  the  Anti-slavery 
cause  he  became  a  leader.  His  first  great  speech 
in  Faneuil  Hall  revealed  his  power,  and  gave  him 
a  nation  for  an  audience.  From  that  moment  he 
set  himself  to  crush  the  power  of  slavery.  Far- 
seeing  and  dispassionate,  he  saw  that  his  hope  lay 
in  arousing  the  masses.  He  saw  that  the  immortal 
principles  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  con- 
templated universal  freedom  and  enfranchisement  as 
their  natural  and  inevitable  result. 

He  began  to  agitate  the  question  of  negro  slav- 
ery, now  here,  now  there,  but  at  every  opportunity. 
Confronted  with  mobs  again  and  again,  derided  by 
press  and  pulpit,  he  pressed  steadily  on,  confident 
of  the  ultimate  triumph  of  right,  making  no  com- 
promises, asking  no  favors,  and  knowing  no  retreat. 
In  nothing  else  was  his  character  more  sublime  than 
in  his  unfaltering  faith  in  the  triumph  of  truth. 
Other  men  might  stumble  and  go  astray  in  the  dark- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  97 

ness  of  self-interest,  but  his  pathway  was  always 
bright  with  self-sacrifice  and  devotion  to  duty. 
Rising  like  a  mountain  peak  among  his  contempo- 
raries, he  caught  the  earliest  beams  of  a  nobler  civil- 
ization dawning  upon  the  world,  and  he  failed  not  to 
reflect  them  to  the  plains  below. 

Reformers  tend  to  become  excessive.  The  slav- 
ery agitation  showed  the  need  of  other  reforms  and 
many  of  the  best  of  the  abolitionists  enlisted  under 
these  new  banners.  Some  of  the  reformers  were 
ready  to  adopt  every  "ism"  and  every  new  idea,  good 
or  bad,  which  looked  to  change.  But  Phillips,  anxious 
to  further  every  movement  for  the  betterment  of 
humanity,  always  carefully  distinguished  between 
liberty  and  license.  He  espoused  every  cause  that 
had  its  rise  in  justice  and  right,  but  turned  a  deaf 
ear  to  the  wild  shouts  of  the  iconoclasts.  Some  of 
the  noblest  reforms  of  today  are  still  indebted  to 
his  genius.  Reforms  in  Penal  Legislature,  Equal 
Suffrage,  the  Temperance  Reform,  the  Labor  Prob- 
lem and  many  others — all  claimed  and  received  his 
thought.  His  philanthropy  knew  no  limits  of  race 
or  condition  and  of  him  too  we  might  say:  "His 
toleration  was  as  broad  as  human  nature  and  his 
sympathy  as  boundless  as  the  sea." 

When  the  war  was  over  and  the  slaves  were 
freed,  Garrison  and  others,  thinking  with  strange 
shortsightedness  that  their  work  was  done,  withdrew 
from  the  Anti-slavery  organizations.  Not  so  Wen- 
dell Phillips.  He  saw  that  the  work  of  the  aboli- 
tionist did  not  end  with  the  mere  emancipation  of 
the  negro.  He  had  worked  not  more  for  the  over- 
throw of  the  slave-power  than  for  the  overthrow  of 
all  systems  of  law  which  denied  the  negro  the  rights 
of  citizenship.  The  negroes  of  the  South  just  freed, 
were  in  danger  of  being  denied  the  franchise,  but 
at  the  call  of  Phillips  the  abolitionists  rallied  to  their 


98  WINNING  ORATIONS 

aid.  During  the  years  of  reconstruction  his  was  the 
voice  that  cried  for  unbiased  justice  and  from  end 
to  end  of  the  North  went  home  to  conscientious 
hearts.  He  went  from  city  to  city  speaking  for  the 
enfranchisement  of  the  negro.  His  speeches  were 
copied  far  and  wide  and  many  of  the  leading  papers 
gave  space  for  editorials  from  his  pen.  Freed  from 
party  lines  he  wielded  a  greater  influence  than  any 
statesman,  and,  by  arousing  the  Northern  con- 
science, brought  forth  the  crowning  glory  of  our 
Constitution — the  Fifteenth  Amendment.  "More 
than  to  any  other,"  says  Senator  Henry  Wilson, 
"more  than  to  all  others,  the  colored  people  owe  it 
that  they  were  not  cheated  out  of  their  citizenship 
after  emancipation,  to  Wendell  Phillips." 

Thus  he  stood,  a  complete  victor,  after  a  life- 
long battle.  The  nation  was  ready  to  give  him  al- 
most any  civic  honor.  The  hissing  mobs  of  his 
earlier  career  had  given  place  to  applauding  mil- 
lions. Most  men  would  have  retired  from  the  battle- 
fields to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  victory — most  men  would 
have  done  so — but  not  Wendell  Phillips.  "New  oc- 
casions teach  new  duties"  was  his  watchward  and 
now,  as  aforetime,  he  brushed  aside  personal  honors 
to  give  himself  to  the  help  of  oppressed  humanity. 
The  reforms  he  then  embraced  are  yet  before  us, 
radiant  still  with  the  impress  of  his  genius.  As  to 
them  let  future  generations  judge,  and  with  fresh 
glory  crown  his  eloquence. 

Most  men  who  reach  the  heights  of  greatness 
are  noted  for  some  particular  talent  by  which  they 
have  risen.  But  Phillips  was  distinguished  by  the 
quality  and  range  of  all  his  powers.  Wherever  duty 
placed  him  he  towered  above  his  fellows.  Some  few 
mistakes  he  made  to  show  that  he  was  human,  but 
when  he  saw  himself  in  error,  he  never  hesitated  to 
acknowledge  it.  Not  even  his  bitterest  foe  dared 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  99 

assail  his  private  life,  while  often  his  public  enemies 
were  his  personal  friends.  Born  and  bred  an  aristo- 
crat, he  freely  gave  his  life  to  the  service  of  the 
most  lowly,  deeming  no  task  too  heavy  for  him  to 
undertake,  no  sacrifice  too  great  for  his  philan- 
thropy. His  own  time  may  not  have  granted  him 
all  the  honor  that  was  his,  but  he  does  not  need  it. 
The  story  of  his  life  is  his  noblest  eulogy.  The  peer- 
less orator,  the  broad-minded  reformer,  the  devoted 
patriot,  the  consecrated  Christian,  he  stands  tower- 
ing aloft  in  the  greatness  of  his  genius — serene, 
fearless,  incomparable.  Our  praises  cannot  add  to 
his  fame.  Our  blame  could  not  dim  the  glory  of  his 
life.  Give  but  the  story  of  his  life  and  centuries 
hence,  when  Justice,  Truth  and  Virtue  are  enthroned, 
impartial  History,  seeking  to  do  honor  to  her  noblest 
sons,  will  lay  at  the  feet  of  Wendell  Phillips — states- 
man, hero,  man — a  nation's  gratitude,  a  world's  re- 
nown. 


THIRTEENTH  CONTEST  (1900) 
AMERICAN  PROBLEMS 

(James   A.    Walton,    Redfield   College) 


The  progress  of  humanity  during  the  century 
just  closing  has  been  more  rapid  than  during  any 
other  like  period.  If  by  progress  we  mean  the 
struggle  of  humanity  to  realize  itself,  to  develop 
higher  forms-  of  individual  life,  as  well  as  a  nobler 
national  righteousness,  then  our  nation  has  been 
the  most  progressive  in  the  world.  Starting  a  little 
over  a  century  ago,  a  handful  of  people  with  only 
a  small  strip  of  territory  along  the  Atlantic,  with- 
out money  or  credit,  without  army  or  navy,  with- 
out standing  among  the  nations,  foes  without  and 
foes  within,  we  have  attained  an  eminence  where  we 
stand  as  one  of  the  greatest  among  the  nations. 

Territorially  our  expansion  has  been  unparal- 
leled. During  the  last  years  of  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury our  boundary  was  the  Appalachian  system, 
next  the  Father  of  Waters  became  the  goal  of  pos- 
sible extent  Today  our  nation  extends  from  sea 
to  sea,  and  the  garden  of  the  Pacific  and  the  fertile 
island  of  the  Carribean  sea  are  integral  parts  of  our 
Republic. 

Commerce  and  wealth  have  readily  kept  pace 
with  territorial  extension.  It  is  the  Englishman's 
boast  that  he  is  manufacturer  to  the  queen,  the 
American's  that  he  is  manufacturer  to  the  world. 
We  are  leaders  in  the  great  industrial  competition 
of  the  world.  We  send  American  cotton  to  Asia^- 
through  our  own  port,  Manila — American  iron  to 
Australia,  American  steel  to  Egypt,  American  con- 
duits to  Glasgow  and  American  locomotives  to 
Canada  and  Russia.  The  increase  last  year  of  the 


102  WINNING  ORATIONS 

shipments  of  manufactured  iron  alone  was 
$105,680,000. 

We  are  outstripping  the  mistress  of  the  seas, 
and  the  limits  of  our  foreign  trade  have  by  no  means 
yet  been  reached.  In  Africa  the  demand  for  Ameri- 
can goods  has  been  continuous  and  China  is  being 
opened  up  to  American  commerce.  As  we  view  the 
present  commercial  expansion  we  feel  that  the  fu- 
ture has  greater  wonders  in  store. 

There  is  no  country  better  equipped  educational- 
ly. Public  schools  are  the  great  lever  which  ele- 
vates our  children  to  the  plane  of  intelligent,  loyal 
citizenship.  One  of  the  features  of  education  in  this 
epoch  is  the  extension  of  all  forms  of  instruction  to 
the  people.  Thirty-two  states  have  adopted  the 
compulsory  school  laws  resulting  in  a  largely  in- 
creased attendance  on  the  public  schools.  The  grand 
total  enrolled  in  public  and  private  schools  at  the 
close  of  1898  was  over  17,000,000. 

We  have  today  a  population  of  75,000,000  with 
wealth  untold,  with  possibilities  beyond  measure, 
with  educational  advantages  unlimited,  with  com- 
mercial interests  unparalleled,  a  great  and  happy 
people,  honored  among  the  nations,  with  more  of 
comfort,  happiness  and  freedom  than  any  other  na- 
tion past  or  present. 

But  with  our  great  opportunities  and  possibil- 
ities have  come  greater  responsibilities.  The  moral 
and  spiritual  growth  must  keep  pace  with  the  ma- 
terial. Questions  have  arisen  unforeseen  by  the 
founders  of  our  Republic;  problems  that  are  of  deep- 
est moment  to  the  state;  problems  which  unsolved 
retard  the  development  of  freedom  and  righteous- 
ness in  our  nation.  Let  us  consider  some  of  these. 

Political  corruption  is  in  evidence  on  every  hand. 
On  all  sides  we  see  the  scramble  for  office;  cities 
making  law  ridiculous;  citizens  selling  their  birth- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  103 

right  for  money,  driven  to  the  polls  and  voted;  cit- 
izens turning1  over  their  rights  to  professional  poli- 
ticians whose  highest  aim  is  to  fill  places  of  re- 
sponsibility with  a  low  order  of  intelligence;  United 
States  Senators — serving  the  state  for  its  spoils — 
effectually  opposing  the  will  of  the  people,  and  edu- 
cated men  recreant  to  political  progress. 

When  we  come  to  the  conflict  between  labor  and 
capital,  we  find  a  widely  prevailing  hatred.  This 
gap  between  rich  and  poor  cannot  be  closed  until 
masters  learn  to  value  men  more  than  they  value 
things.  Within  this  generation  have  grown  up  two 
black  passions,  each  debasing  to  society:  the  greed 
for  wealth;  the  hatred  of  capital.  The  wage  earner 
especially  in  the  large  cities  has  become  a  wage 
slave.  The  laboring  man  has  no  day  sacred  to  rest 
and  the  enjoyment  of  his  home.  Do  you  wonder  that 
Christian  men  feel  the  hurt  when  denied  their  Sun- 
day's rest  by  their  employer?  Do  you  marvel  that 
honest  men  feel  the  hurt  when  they  know  what 
hunger  is,  and  what  it  is  to  hear  their  children  cry 
for  bread  and  sunlight,  while  before  their  eyes  is 
the  wasteful  luxury  of  the  rich  whose  every  window 
is  open  to  the  sun?  Factories,  shops  and  tenement 
houses,  where  gloom  reigns,  might  be  as  halls  of 
light  and  health  if  masters  would  only  give  to  the 
laborer  a  little  of  his  due. 

Deep  in  the  heart  of  society  is  the  core  of  sel- 
fishness. Any  form  of  self-worship  or  self-absorp- 
tion is  the  essentially  wrong  idea.  The  secret  of  the 
cure  is  found  in  this,  you  serve  yourself  by  serving 
others.  As  slavery  fell  before  the  patriotism  of  this 
country,  so  also  will  selfishness  go  down  before  the 
law  of  love. 

There  is  another  menace  to  our  civilization 
which  we  cannot,  dare  not  ignore — the  saloon.  It 
threatens  the  home,  the  state,  the  church  and  the 


104  WINNING  ORATIONS 

best  interests  of  humanity.  If  we  are  to  succeed 
in  any  alteration  of  our  political  machinery,  the 
saloon  must  be  defeated  in  its  work  of  debasing 
American  manhood.  Municipal  ownership  of  street 
railways  cannot  be  a  success  while  the  municipal 
government  is  controlled  by  whisky  politicians.  Di- 
rect election  of  United  States  Senators  will  not 
produce  anything  better  than  Quays  and  Murphys 
if  voters  are  corrupted  as  they  now  are  by  saloon 
politics.  Politics  in  large  cities  have  become  little 
less  than  an  organized  appetite.  What  will  our 
"benevolent  assimilation"  of  the  islands  avail  if  the 
islanders  are  debauched  by  American  liquors?  In 
the  first  five  months  of  1899,  $690,000  worth  of 
liquors  was  exported  to  these  islands.  The  saloon 
in  America  and  our  possessions  is  an  agency  that 
blocks  the  upward  way.  The  first  step  to  successful 
political  and  social  reform  must  be  over  its  ruins. 

The  problem  of  immigration  is  of  no  small  im- 
portance to  our  land.  The  number  of  immigrants 
during  the  fiscal  year  just  closed  was  over  300,000. 
Commissioner  Powderly  recommends  that  the  immi- 
gration laws  be  made  more  stringent  and  asserts 
that  even  under  present  rigorous  conditions  a  large 
number  of  persons  come  here  who  are  paupers  or 
physically  incapacitated.  Men  who  do  not  appreci- 
ate the  progress  and  happiness  that  may  come  to 
them  in  this  country  should  be  excluded.  Those  who 
enter  our  land  and  here  resist  law  and  throw  bombs 
into  the  streets  were  never  citizens  of  any  land. 
Their  minds  are  too  narrow  to  hold  the  idea  of  a 
state.  The  true  citizen  does  not  live  for  self  alone. 
He  feels  the  agony  of  the  millions  and  grows  am- 
bitious for  humanity.  We  must  make  citizenship 
a  high  calling  and  the  right  of  suffrage  a  holy  and 
unsullied  trust. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  105 

These  are  some  of  the  conditions.  What  is  the 
true  solution  of  these  problems?  Good  progress 
has  been  made  in  eliminating  hatred  and  prejudice 
by  the  development  of  education  and  Christian  cit- 
izenship. The  charity  of  the  rich  is  flowing  into 
the  channels  of  practical  helpfulness  thus  mani- 
festing the  brotherhood  of  man.  These  powers  for 
good  shall  at  last  crush  out  the  evils  of  this  hour. 
Then  will  be  ushered  in  the  glad,  new  day  of  out- 
poured light. 

Education  is  reaching  out  along  many  lines.  It 
is  filling  the  minds  of  the  American  youth  with  the 
principles  of  liberty  and  truth.  The  steady  flow 
of  educated  men  and  women  from  our  universities 
and  colleges  is  what  keeps  our  life  as  pure  and  high 
as  it  is  now.  What  is  a  country  to  expect  of  its 
educated  young  men?  To  lead  his  fellow  men  toward 
higher  conceptions  of  national  honor  and  civic 
duty.  Whenever  dogmas  have  turned  the  mind  from 
men,  literature  and  art  have  stepped  in  to  save  the 
precious  things  of  society.  This  has  been  done  by 
teaching  through  prose  and  verse  the  principles  of 
duty,  justice  and  love,  by  portraying  man  as  a 
brother  of  all  mankind  and  a  citizen  in  the  realm 
of  law  and  love.  Let  us  teach  youth  to  study  man 
in  his  needs — the  most  vital  subject  of  thought  in 
the  world;  to  think  deeply,  love  greatly,  strive 
mightily  for  moral  ends  and  character  which  is  the 
true  uplifting  force  in  a  Republic.  That  bigness  is 
not  greatness,  nor  vulgarity  simplicity,  and  that 
the  rule  of  the  majority  is  not  the  moral  law. 

What  should  be  our  attitude  toward  existing 
evils?  One  of  hopefulness.  We  must  not  yield  to 
despair  over  the  shortcomings  of  these  passing 
years.  The  evils  of  today  are  not  great  enough  to 
menace  the  life  of  the  State.  "God  never  scooped 
the  Mississippi  for  the  grave  of  a  Republic,  nor 


106  WINNING  ORATIONS 

poured  Niagara  for  its  dirge."  Comparing  the  past 
with  the  present,  we  find  we  have  made  marked  pro- 
gress both  socially  and  politically. 

Today  woman  is  on  equal  terms  with  man,  the 
shackles  are  broken  from  the  limbs  of  the  slave, 
and  "a  schoolhouse  is  on  every  hilltop."  The  stan- 
dard of  health,  temperance  and  beneficence  to  the 
weak — even  to  animals — has  been  noticeably  raised. 
The  masses  have  received  popular  recognition  and 
rights  far  beyond  the  dreams  of  their  leaders  of  a 
century  ago.  The  government  of  the  people  is 
growing  stronger  every  year.  Religion  has  been 
taken  from  the  realm  of  theory  and  creed  and 
applied  to  the  life  of  the  individual  and  society. 
Sectionalism  is  no  longer  known.  There  is  no 
North,  no  South,  but  a  great  united  people. 

Let  us  not  despair  of  the  future  of  the  common 
people.  For  centuries  they  have  been  serving  the 
favored  few.  Educate  them!  Let  them  have  full 
access  to  books,  art,  the  sunlight  and  beauty  of 
God's  world.  As  sand  cast  into  the  furnace  comes 
forth  resplendent  crystal,  so  from  the  ranks  of  the 
common  people  may  come  another  Lincoln  to  bless 
the  world. 

The  need  of  today  is  men  and  women  who  are 
not  indifferent  to  the  moral  darkness  and  misery  in 
the  world;  who  will  take  an  active  part  in  political 
life  not  to  get  something  out  of  it  but  to  put  some- 
thing into  it;  who  will  make  it  easier  for  good  poli- 
ticians to  remain  good  men;  men  who  will  grapple 
hand  to  hand  with  iniquitous  power  "that  peace, 
truth,  brotherhood,  freedom  shall  be  no  longer  the 
rhetoric  of  the  platform  but  dominant,  sovereign 
facts  of  life."  Here  is  an  optimism  that  can  be  at- 
tained by  all;  it  is  founded  not  so  much  on  thought 
as  on  action.  What  we  need  chiefly  is  a  race  of 
statesmen  who  are  nurtured  in  the  ideals  of  true 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  107 

patriotism,  who  are  trained  to  estimate  rightly  the 
trend  of  events,  who  are  animated  with  the  noble 
purpose  of  serving  the  State  for  the  sake  of  the 
State. 

Would  you  help  to  usher  in  a  nobler  national 
righteousness,  the  brotherhood  of  man?  When  the 
voice  of  truth  speaks  that  holy  word  charity  "in 
its  larger  rendering  of  love,  brotherhood  and  self- 
sacrifice,  obey  it,  and  leave  the  metaphysics  of  the 
question  to  take  care  of  itself."  That  happy  day 
will  come  not  by  magic  or  science,  tempest  or  fire, 
but  by  the  entrance  of  education  and  the  spirit  of 
love  into  the  life  of  our  nation.  "Ring  out  the  old! 
Ring  in  the  new!"  the  great  moral  renaissance,  the 
new  learning  of  the  mind  and  heart,  the  new  types 
of  man  and  woman  developed  by  liberty  working 
within  the  domain  of  love  and  law. 

God  keep  our  Nation  through  the  dangers  of 
the  coming  years.  May  the  lustre  of  our  flag  never 
be  sullied  by  warfare  for  conquest!  May  it  never 
advance  save  to  bring  liberty  and  self-government 
to  all  beneath  its  folds.  May  it  ever  float  un- 
changed, save  by  the  blossoming  of  new  stars  in  its 
celestial  field  of  blue.  God  preserve  the  birthright 
of  the  one  Nation  whose  ideal  is  not  to  subjugate 
but  to  enlighten  the  world. 


FOURTEENTH  CONTEST  (1901) 
TITO  MELEMA 

MISS  EDITH  NOBLE.  DAKOTA  UNIVERSITY 
Also  winner  of  Interstate  Contest 

In  the  historical  romance,  Romola,  George  Eliot 
has  created  a  masterpiece  of  treason.  Tito  Melema 
will  ever  be  a  warning  to  the  world — his  character 
a  wonderful  product  of  evolution,  sin-blighted  in  the 
midst  of  perfect  nature.  The  calm  skies  of  South- 
ern Europe  manifest  omnipotent  mercy;  the  soft 
breezes  lift  upward  the  adorations  of  nightingale 
and  incense  of  rose;  the  rigid  and  unyielding  Alps 
re-echo  the  bugle-call  of  austere  purpose,  and  the 
rolling  waves  of  the  Mediterranean  voice  obedience 
to  divine  decree;  yet,  out  of  it  all,  we  see  him  rising 
in  defiance  of  nature,  society,  and  God — one  of  the 
blackest  monuments  of  literature. 

It  is  seldom  that  fiction  creates  such  a  master- 
piece of  evil.  But  George  Eliot  recognized  that 
temptation  follows  hard  on  the  heels  of  ambition; 
she  knew  that  base  power  is  the  legitimate  offspring 
in  the  union  of  a  quickened  intellect  and  a  dormant 
heart;  she  was  conscious  that  to  the  mind  steeped 
in  sin,  honor  is  a  mockery,  virtue  a  lie;  and  it  is  for 
these  reasons  that  the  author  has  set  against  the 
beauty  of  nature  and  the  innocence  of  youth  an  un- 
paralleled silhouette  of  direst  wrong  and  unrelent- 
ing retribution — a  warning  solemn  and  awful. 

No  man  had  been  more  favored  than  the  young 
Greek.  For  sixteen  years,  Tito  Melema  had  been 
nurtured  as  a  cherished  son  by  Baldassarre  Calvo, 
who  owed  him  no  more  than  the  world  owes  any  man 
— the  consideration  due  to  humanity.  Yet,  rescuing 
the  boy  from  penury,  the  foster-father  had  lavished 
upon  him  wealth  and  luxury,  learning  and  love. 


110  WINNING  ORATIONS 

There  had  been  years  of  travel  in  countries  rich  in 
the  treasures  of  ancient  civilization.  Together  they 
risked  barbarian  hatred  in  search  of  wider  culture. 
But  the  risk  was  fatal.  Turks  captured  the  galley, 
and  separation  came  with  shipwreck.  Yet  the  sea 
could  not  quench  the  sturdy  life  of  the  youth. 
Wresting  himself  from  the  grasping  waters  he  found 
refuge  in  the  city  of  Florence.  Who  ruled  the  winds 
that  their  wreaking  wrath  should  have  made  possible 
such  opportune  anchoring? 

The  initiative  acts  of  Tito  Melema's  scholarly 
career  exhibited  a  trait  that  foretold  his  ruin. 
Blessed  with  learning  and  talent,  he  was  guilty  of 
basest  ingratitude.  For  the  obligation  imposed  upon 
him,  he  offered  the  crime  of  disloyalty,  and,  alas! 
beneath  his  gigantic  wrong,  the  innocence  and  pur- 
ity of  youth  were  forever  crushed!  In  the  separa- 
tion that  came  with  shipwreck,  what  had  become  of 
Baldassarre  Calvo?  Had  he  escaped  the  bloodshed 
of  a  struggle  with  Turkish  captors?  Whatever  it 
was,  whether  slavery,  wandering,  poverty  or  death, 
to  him  Tito  Melema  owed  an  untiring  search.  Post- 
ponement of  honor,  aye,  a  life  of  futile,  dangerous 
toil,  would  have  been  but  a  just  requital  for  years 
of  devotion.  Baldassarre  Calvo  might  be  a  slave, 
looking  to  his  son  for  emancipation.  Stripped  of 
wealth,  perishing  among  strangers  the  bowed,  grey- 
haired  benefactor  might  be  blindly  groping  for  a 
place  to  die.  Gratitude  and  pity  must  have  warred 
with  selfish  ambition,  and  alas!  ambition  was  the 
victor.  Loyalty  shudders  at  the  price  Tito  Melema 
paid  for  prosperity — the  freedom  of  his  benefactor. 

The  heinousness  of  the  desertion  appalls.  Two 
antagonistic  possibilities  were  presented:  vigilant 
solicitude,  neglect.  Recognition  of  the  obligation 
would  have  been  but  the  natural  loyalty  of  devotion; 
disregard  of  it  was  the  faithlessness  that  culminated 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  111 

in  treason.  Learning  was  no  antidote  for  the  bane 
of  sin.  Tito  Melema  had  stolen  the  knowledge  of 
heaven  when  he  learned  the  secrets  of  the  ages.  But 
genius  failed  utterly  to  lead  the  transgressor  to  re- 
pentance; it  had  no  alchemy  to  transmute  sinner  into 
saint. 

A  message  came  from  Baldassarre:  "I  am  sold 
for  a  slave.  I  think  they  are  going  to  take  me  to 
Antioch.  The  gems  alone  will  serve  to  ransom  me." 
His  chains  were  a  plea  for  rescue.  Victory  could  be 
wrenched  from  the  jaws  of  defeat,  if  Tito  Melema 
would  but  choose  the  union  with  God  that  makes 
man  triumphant  over  faithlessness.  But  to  leave 
Florence  after  months  of  passive  disregard  of  his 
father's  fate  would  be  a  confession  of  guilt.  Should 
he  expose  popularity  to  censure?  Should  he  abandon 
growing  success  for  years  of  blind  search?  No, 
Baldassarre  must  suffer! 

Treachery  followed  treachery  until  fealty  was 
supplanted — it  was  the  inevitable  expansion  of  evil. 
The  first  insidious  deed  was  the  death-knell  of  every 
faithful  impulse.  Twice  he  chose  to  betray;  twice 
he  trampled  on  his  nobler  instincts;  twice  he  scorned 
allegiance.  Devotion  was  fast  becoming  an  im- 
possibility. Active  wickedness  followed  passive 
weakness.  Schemes  of  faithlessness  he  cherished 
even  in  the  presence  of  purest  love.  His  marriage 
to  Romola,  the  daughter  of  the  blind  Bardo  di  Bardi, 
forged  another  chain  of  relation.  Years  of  worthy, 
but  fruitless  effort  to  transform  wide  learning  into 
imperishable  literature,  had  culminated  in  the  intense 
desire  of  Bardo  di  Bardi  to  preserve  his  priceless 
library.  The  betrothal  was  a  tacit  transfer  of  this 
duty  from  father  to  son.  But  the  price  of  the  library 
would  repair  Tito  Melema's  dilapidated  fortune;  and 
the  dying  wish  of  a  broken-hearted  scholar  bound 


112  WINNING  ORATIONS 

him  no  more  than  the  sunbeam  stays  the  course  of 
the  tempest.  For  sordid  gain,  a  traitor! 

The  betrayal  of  country  was  inevitable  in  the 
character  of  that  man  who  scrupled  not  to  sell  his 
father's  freedom.  But  patriotism  was  not  bartered 
in  a  single  transaction.  Lack  of  devotion  was  lost 
in  indifference,  indifference  grew  to  unfaithfulness, 
unfaithfulness  bred  desertion,  and  desertion  ended 
in  treason.  Troublesome  times  came  to  Florence. 
The  diplomacy  and  popularity  of  Tito  Melema  be- 
came the  servant  of  the  Medicians,  struggling 
against  two  factions  for  the  city's  freedom.  The 
peril  of  the  Medicians  was  the  peril  of  Tito  Melema. 
He  purchased  his  own  safety  with  the  heads  of  five 
of  the  leaders. 

God  of  Heaven  and  earth,  is  there  no  vengeance 
for  such  awful  deeds?  Is  Justice  dead  that  she 
metes  out  to  evil  no  measure  of  retribution?  Is 
there  no  longer  judgment  for  crime?  Ah,  yes,  for 
surely  treachery  is  its  own  worst  punishment!  Tito 
Melema,  drink  the  fatal  hemlock  your  own  hands 
have  distilled! 

In  the  merciless  heat  of  a  tropic  sun,  an  old 
man  toiled,  a  slave.  In  the  loneliness  of  bondage, 
passionate  heart  and  stricken  body  cried  out  in 
anguish.  His  son — the  boy  whom  he  had  lifted  from 
beggary  to  wealth,  from  cruelty  to  tenderness — his 
son  would  surely  save  him.  In  the  filthy  hold  of 
the  pirate  ship,  and  on  a  hot  coast,  scourged  by 
tyrant  taskmasters,  even  his  clanking  chains  rang 
with  the  hope,  "Tito  will  find  me."  And  yet,  that 
rescue  never  came; — hope,  doubt,  despair.  But  at 
last,  in  the  very  city  of  Florence,  the  thongs  were 
cut  from  the  wrists  of  the  bent  captive.  Freedom! 
but  a  freedom  that  brought  only  knowledge  of  de- 
sertion, and  that  wrung  from  the  startled  Tito  a 
cry  of  denial,  "Some  madman,  surely."  Hope  en- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  113 

tombed,  doubt  dead,  despair  born,  revenge  conceived! 
The  sweetness  of  devotion  turned  to  the  bitterness 
of  gall.  Hate  became  passionate  as  love.  Would 
Baldassarre  Calvo  never  hear  a  cry  of  pain  for  the 
light  laugh  of  that  gay,  handsome  man,  reveling  in 
gilded  glory?  His  maddened  brain  was  charged  with 
a  single  purpose:  with  his  own  hands  to  wreak 
vengeance  upon  that  beautiful  form.  Can  you  won- 
der that  revenge  conquered  him,  you  who  have  felt 
the  depths  of  human  love  and  human  wrong,  who 
have  been  stung  by  the  ingrate? 

On  the  swift  wings  of  Nemesis  Justice  overtook 
laggard  flight.  The  wrath  of  Florence  was  baffled 
only  to  give  place  to  waiting  revenge.  The  swift 
current  of  the  Arno  sought  to  save  him,  but  it  bore 
him  into  the  very  hiding-place  of  the  seeking 
Baldassarre.  It  was  the  day  of  revenge,  the  hour  of 
retribution!  Death  hung  its  chill  gloom  over  them, 
as  the  hardened  hands  of  the  worn-out  scholar 
clutched  the  blackened  throat  of  his  son — a  traitor 
poisoned  by  the  venom  of  treason! 

In  his  evil  career,  Tito  Melema  swept  the  gamut 
of  human  possibilities;  and  as  the  quiet  beauty  of 
a  summer's  day  perishes  in  the  fierce  onslaught  of 
the  hurricane,  so  his  life,  begun  in  promise,  was 
blotted  out  by  the  swift-gathering  storms  of  sin. 
Yet  he  still  lives,  not  a  mere  fictitious  creation,  but 
the  exponent  of  a  living  principle.  Centuries  ago, 
Tito  Melema  was  a  Sejanus,  inciting  Tiberius  Caesar 
to  duplicity;  today,  he  is  a  political  boss,  wheedling 
thousands  into  dishonest  votes;  lured  on  by  hope  of 
public  honor,  he  incites  political  faction  to  break 
faith  with  the  people.  As  a  tradesman,  made  greedy 
by  gain,  he  transforms  honest  competition  into 
bitter  strife,  imperiling  the  prosperity  of  the  com- 
mercial world.  As  a  social  menace,  he  maintains  the 
divorce  court;  heeding  not  the  desolation  of  loveless 


114  WINNING  ORATIONS 

homes,  he  upholds  an  impure  standard,  masked  by 
the  semblance  of  chastity,  pouring  into  the  veins  of 
the  twentieth  century  the  hot  blood  of  lust.  With 
hollow  worship  and  the  religious  fad,  he  opposes  the 
simple  purity  of  the  Christian  life;  and  unmindful 
of  retribution,  denies  universal  fraternity  as  the 
expansion  of  individual  relation  to  God — robbing  the 
Church  of  power. 

Must  we  admit  that  our  nation,  tutored  by  free- 
dom and  grown  sturdy  in  loyality,  is  becoming  blind 
to  the  advance  of  infidelity?  We  condemn  the 
anarchy  that  murdered  King  Humbert,  while  our 
own  land  hides  the  grave  of  Guiteau.  We  sneer 
at  English  piety  befriending  the  opium  traffic,  and 
yet  throttle  state  prohibition  in  our  own  country. 
We  scoff  at  the  corruption  of  French  militarism 
torturing  a  helpless  Dreyfus.  Look  you  at  Tammany 
Hall!  A  fair  political  organization,  nourished  by 
upright  men  seeking  to  strangle  an  insidious  nion- 
archial  spirit.  Tammany  Society  has  been  trans- 
formed, by  the  intrigue  of  such  men  as  Aaron  Burr, 
into  Tammany  Hall,  with  an  influence  so  malign 
that  honest  men  cry  out  in  desperation  of  fear: 
"Will  it  plunge  a  nation  into  destruction?" 

Would  we  rear  a  defense?  History  and  fiction 
join  hands  to  build  it.  Victoria,  the  God-fearing 
queen,  a  splendid  tribute  to  fidelity;  Patrick  Henry, 
inspiring  a  despairing  nation  in  a  struggle  for  lib- 
erty; Gladstone,  exalting  statesmanship  by  unswerv- 
ing passion  for  right:  such  are  safe-guards  against 
treachery.  But  not  all:  boldly  against  that  noble 
background  stands  the  traitor  of  literature.  It  is 
the  relief  that  makes  the  warning  picture.  Fear  of 
the  condemnation  of  baseness  supplements  the  in- 
spiration of  grandeur,  giving  force  and  endurance 
to  the  powers  awakened.  Tito  Melema  is  a  monu- 
ment of  warning  whose  colossal  proportions  shadow 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  115 

the  world.  We  scorn  his  odious  mind,  we  pity  his 
selfish  heart,  we  resolve  to  shun  the  dark  deeds  that 
submerged  his  life  in  ruin.  Literature  has  breathed 
into  his  calamitous  decline  the  breath  of  justice. 
May  the  fire  of  his  judgment  purify  the  world  of 
treason!  As  the  Lord  God  liveth,  every  Sodom  shall 
perish  in  the  flames  of  its  sulphurous  brooding  cloud. 
Can  we  fathom  the  punishment?  Behold  the  traitor, 
king  of  a  lone,  loathsome  isle,  groaning  out  eternity 
in  desertion  and  remorse:  the  only  sight  he  sees, 
the  desolation  his  own  hands  have  wrought;  the  only 
sound  he  hears,  the  taunting  echo  of  his  own  in- 
gratitude— his,  the  desolation  of  Tyre,  the  ruin  of 
Gomorrah! 

The  sacred  writer  inspired  of  God,  the  historian 
thrilled  by  love  of  liberty,  the  author  discerning 
human  danger  with  united  voice  proclaim  "Anathema 
Maranatha"  upon  the  ingrate  and  the  traitor.  For 
one  hundred  years  profane  history  has  perpetuated 
a  picture  of  base  betrayal  and  remorseful  exile  in 
the  man  who  raised  an  evil  hand  against  a  struggling 
nation — false  to  country,  Benedict  Arnold!  For  two 
thousand  years,  sacred  story  has  breathed  its  curse 
upon  him  who  sent  innocence  to  its  crucifixion — 
false  to  Master,  Judas!  And  now,  fiction  with  her 
facile  pen  has  written  on  the  lasting  walls  of  litera- 
ture, never  to  be  erased,  never  to  be  dimmed,  the 
name  of  the  man  who  sacrificed  loyalty  for  ease, 
integrity  for  fame,  manhood  for  prosperity;  a  traitor 
to  friend,  father,  country,  God — Tito  Melema. 


FIFTEENTH  CONTEST  (1902) 
FROM   FAME  TO   INFAMY 

CLARION    D.    HARDY,    DAKOTA    UNIVERSITY 
Also  winner  of   Interstate  Contest 


Two  memorable  graves  in  the  cemetery  of 
Princeton  college  contain  all  that  is  mortal  of  two 
memorable  men.  Peacefully  entombed  here  lie  the 
ashes  of  a  father  and  a  grandfather.  Imposing 
headstones  record  their  deeds  of  virtue,  love  and  pa- 
triotism. At  the  foot  of  these  two  graves  is  a  third. 
No  epitaph  recounts  the  mighty  deeds  of  its  silent 
sleeper;  no  loving  hands  decorate  that  obscure  sepul- 
cher;  no  friend  lingers  to  drop  a  tear  of  fond  re- 
membrance; that  home  of  death  is  deserted,  un- 
marked and  desolate.  Here  rest  the  remains  of 
Aaron  Burr. 

The  early  life  of  this  remarkable  man  was 
spent  amid  circumstances  the  most  favorable  for 
culture  and  intellectual  growth.  Naught  was  lack- 
ing that  the  most  ambitious  youth  could  desire.  The 
refinements  of  home  and  nature  shed  their  beneficent 
influences  about  him  in  childhood;  wealth,  oppor- 
tunity, and  the  best  advantages  of  school  and  college 
blessed  him  in  young  manhood.  He  possessed  a 
dignified  presence,  a  fascinating  personality,  and  a 
brilliant  intellect,  that  served  him  well  in  all  his 
relations  to  society.  These  God-given  powers  won 
him  honors  at  Princeton,  glory  on  the  battlefield, 
leadership  in  the  senate  and  national  fame  as  vice- 
president  of  the  United  States.  In  this  high  office 
we  see  him  rise  to  majestic  greatness — the  idol  of 
an  admiring  people.  From  Maine  to  the  Carolinas, 
from  the  Mississippi  to  the  Atlantic,  Aaron  Bun- 
was  trusted  and  honored.  But  this  man  of  colossal 
genius,  the  organizer  and  leader  of  democracy,  falls 


118  WINNING  ORATIONS 

from  his  position  of  power,  the  object  of  universal 
hatred  and  execration. 

While  yet  vice  president,  he  became  an  inde- 
pendent candidate  for  governor  of  New  York,  using 
the  political  methods  of  an  infamous  party  organ- 
izer and  an  unscrupulous  demagogue.  Denounced 
as  such  by  Hamilton,  he  quickly  revealed  his  hatred 
and  enmity  by  challenging  his  rival  to  mortal  com- 
bat. Hamilton  sought  to  avoid  this  extremity,  but 
in  vain;  Burr  would  try  honor  upon  the  field  of 
death. 

Behold  these  men  on  the  morning  of  the  eleventh 
of  July,  eighteen  hundred  and  four,  standing  on  the 
heights  of  Weehawken,  awaiting  the  moment  for 
action.  The  mind  of  one  longs  for  home,  wife  and 
happy  children;  that  of  the  other  dwells  only  on  the 
present  moment  and  gratification  of  revenge.  In 
the  heart  of  one  throbs  the  kingly  spirit  of  a  patriot; 
in  that  of  the  other  burns  the  fiendish  desires  of  an 
lago.  The  countenance  of  one  is  calm  and  serene, 
reflecting  the  thoughts  and  purposes  of  a  guiltless 
soul;  that  of  the  other  is  black  with  passion,  reveal- 
ing the  hatred  of  years,  the  soul  of  a  satan.  Here, 
upon  these  heights,  under  the  clear  blue  of  the  morn- 
ing sky,  the  evil  genius  of  Burr  assaults  the  holy 
spirit  of  a  patriot  and  wins  two  victims — the  soul 
of  Burr,  the  life  of  Hamilton.  A  man  of  principle 
is  slain  on  the  altar  of  folly,  revenge,  ambition.  The 
spirit  of  passion  confronts  the  spirit  of  patriotism; 
the  latter  loses  a  defender  that  the  former  may  win 
an  ally.  This  tragedy  was  more  than  a  struggle 
between  man  and  man,  between  politician  and  poli- 
tician; it  was  a  mighty  combat  of  passion  and  prin- 
ciple— a  combat  typical  of  the  eternal  warfare  waged 
wherever  humanity  exists.  In  the  hearts  of  men, 
in  political  parties,  in  the  great  nations  of  the  earth, 
the  battle  is  ceaseless. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  119 

It  is  inherent  in  man  to  respect  the  rule  of  law 
and  abhor  the  supremacy  of  passion.  Burr  violates 
this  sense  of  justice,  and  is  rejected  by  friends,  de- 
spised by  opponents,  branded  as  a  murderer. 
Henceforth  flee  whither  he  will  Burr  shall  not  escape 
the  crushing  burden  of  a  nation's  righteous  wrath. 
To  the  north,  to  the  south,  to  the  east,  to  the  west, 
it  shall  follow  him  forever  and  ever. 

Driven  from  his  palace  on  Richmond  Hill,  he 
sought  the  west,  but  his  evil  ambition  was  ever  with 
him.  Aaron  Burr  saw  pathless  forests  and  un- 
tracked  prairies  stretching  toward  the  sunset; 
gleaming  lakes  studding  the  landscape  and  shimmer- 
ing rivers  winding  lazily  toward  the  seas.  With  all 
this  wealth  of  opportunity  before  him,  his  active 
brain  plotted  and  schemed  until  the  possibility  of  a 
mighty  kingdom  captivated  him.  Here,  here  will 
he  build  an  empire;  of  all  this,  he  shall  be  the 
crowned  monarch.  On  yonder  hill  shall  rise  his 
capital;  upon  this  crest  will  he  rear  his  castle. 
Aaron  Burr  must  sit  upon  a  throne. 

He  seeks  aid  on  a  beautiful  island  in  the  Ohio. 
Harman  Blennerhassett  had  here  erected  a  palace. 
Wealth  and  peace  reigned  supreme,  a  loving  wife 
and  children  blessed  him,  the  charm  of  books  and 
the  mysteries  of  nature  guided  his  thoughts.  In 
the  midst  of  this  quiet  scene  the  seducer  appears. 
Aaron  Burr  comes,  for  he  needs  money.  The  temp- 
ter tells  of  greater  riches  and  power;  calls  up 
images  of  royal  banquets  and  noble  titles,  stirs  the 
soul  with  glories  of  battle  and  the  triumphs  of  war. 
This  peaceful  life  is  transformed  into  one  of  excite- 
ment and  disquiet.  The  unsuspecting  heart  of  the 
listener  is  captive.  Blennerhassett  is  snared  in 
ambition's  toils.  Aaron  Burr  had  turned  this  Heaven 
of  love  in  to  a  Hell  of  discontent;  for  what?  He 
led  this  man  to  devote  his  money  to  a  base  and 


120  WINNING  OEATIONS 

ignoble  cause,  for  what?  He  drove  the  lovely  mis- 
tress from  that  palace  to  leave  her  an  outcast,  at 
midnight,  upon  the  desolate  ruins  of  a  former  home, 
for  what?  To  gratify  ambition  incarnate.  Napol- 
eon may  conquer  Europe;  Aaron  Burr  shall  rule  the 
western  world.  He  will  forget  Quebec  and  Mon- 
mouth,  and  place  upon  his  own  brow  the  monarch's 
crown.  From  the  scene  of  murder  he  flees  to  become 
a  traitor  to  country. 

The  chronicles  of  Greece  or  the  annals  of  Rome 
record  no  more  tragic  example  of  fallen  greatness. 
Aaron  Burr,  heroic,  marshals  troops,  plans  battles, 
supports  Arnold,  aids  Washington;  Aaron  Burr, 
passionate,  rejects  principle,  kills  Hamilton,  seduces 
innocence,  corrupts  Blennerhassett.  Burr,  the  poli- 
tician, thrills  a  senate,  denounces  despotism,  in- 
spires multitudes,  competes  for  the  supreme  honor 
in  democracy;  Burr,  the  traitor,  succumbs  to  lust 
of  power,  deceives  friends,  plots  his  country's  down- 
fall, sinks  into  ignominy,  the  victim  of  selfish  am- 
bition. 

This  reign  of  passion  has  ever  been  a  foe  to 
society  and  a  menace  to  government.  Supreme  in 
the  hearts  of  enemies,  it  cast  John  Bunyan  into 
prison,  burned  Savonarola  at  the  stake,  and  nailed 
the  Son  of  God  to  the  cross.  Supreme  in  the  lives 
of  men  and  nations,  it  engulfs  them.  Through  it 
Napoleon  seized  the  throne  of  France,  hurled 
Europe  into  chaos,  but  reaped  an  exiles'  fate  on  the 
lonely  shores  of  St.  Helena;  through  it  Benedict 
Arnold  turned  traitor,  betrayed  his  country  for 
English  gold,  but  died  a  castaway  in  a  foreign  land; 
by  it  Rome  rose,  flashed  the  splendor  of  her  great- 
ness across  the  world,  but  fell  drenched  in  blood; 
by  it  Venice  reigned,  sent  proud  flotillas  to  the 
bounds  of  the  sea,  but  is  now  a  stalking  shadow  on 
the  border  ground  of  history. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  121 

The  evil  that  ruined  Burr  was  not  born  in  the 
prime  of  manhood  but  had  its  inception  in  the  days 
of  youth,  when  he  rejected  the  Christians'  Bible  and 
the  Christians'  God.  By  this  decision  Aaron  Bun- 
discarded  the  basic  element  of  moral  character.  He 
renounced  the  controlling  force  that  makes  the  heart 
a  symbol  of  virtue,  tempers  violent  passion,  rebukes 
lust,  and  guides  ambition.  Rejecting  the  faith  of  a 
Paul,  a  Luther,  he  chose  the  hollow  mockeries  of  a 
Judas,  a  Nero.  Casting  away  all  respect  for  God 
and  hope  of  immortality,  he  reached  man's  estate 
utterly  devoid  of  moral  sense.  Thus  his  vicious 
spirit  was  at  restless  enmity  with  the  ethical;  false- 
hood fought  against  truth,  usurpation,  against  jus- 
tice, lust  against  chastity,  selfishness  against  altru- 
ism. Without  a  religious  helm  to  his  ruling  motive 
this  man  worshipped  but  one  deity — self.  Wrapping 
the  mantle  of  virtue  about  him,  he  fascinated  the 
innocent  only  to  leave  them  filched  and  destitute. 
He  would  fight  for  his  country,  when  it  brought  him 
power  and  pelf;  he  would  destroy  it,  when  it  ceased 
to  serve  him.  He  was  a  leader  at  the  bar,  not  in 
behalf  of  justice,  but  for  sordid  gain;  he  developed 
skill  in  politics,  with  no  thought  of  enriching  his 
generation  with  true  principles  of  government,  but 
that  his  arm  of  power  might  be  felt  in  every  city 
and  hamlet  of  the  land;  he  was  fascinating  in  private 
life,  not  to  please  and  entertain,  not  to  instill  higher 
sentiments  of  purity  and  honor,  but  that  he  might 
broaden  his  sphere  of  influence  and  satisfy  his 
licentiousness.  In  public  life  he  was  a  Talleyrand, 
in  private  life  a  Mark  Antony. 

But  not  all  desire  for  leadership  is  ignoble  or 
unjust.  The  principle  of  altruism  is  the  ground- 
work of  all  legitimate  ambition.  It  is  the  spirit  of 
love  working  in  all  the  relations  of  society.  It 
wages  a  war,  relentless  and  internecine,  upon  selfish- 


122  WINNING  ORATIONS 

ness,  and  abhors  passion.  It  animates  the  statesman 
and  scorns  the  demagogue;  respects  law  and  crushes 
anarchy.  Its  setting  is  virtue,  its  watchword  is  ser- 
vice, its  hope  is  Eternal  life. 

The  world's  heroes  have  been  ambitious,  but 
their  ambition  was  noble.  The  aspiration  is  sublime 
that  impelled  Washington  to  leave  Mt.  Vernon  for 
Valley  Forge,  which  sustained  him  in  that  terrible 
conflict  from  Lexington  to  Yorktown;  that  aim  in 
life  is  glorious  which  guided  Florence  Nightingale  in- 
to the  wards  of  suffering  and  disease;  there  to  lave 
the  wounds  of  strangers,  to  receive  the  last  message 
of  dying  heroes,  to  minister  even  to  the  weakest  and 
poorest  of  earth's  creatures;  that  desire  for  leader- 
ship is  exalted  that  moved  William  Lloyd  Garrison 
to  brave  the  threats  of  Boston  mobs  that  he  might 
make  the  chattel  a  man;  that  ambition  is  ever  re- 
vered that  inspired  Abraham  Lincoln  to  toil  for 
years  in  obscurity,  that  urged  him  to  guide  the 
nation  through  the  long  and  bloody  struggle  from 
Sumter  to  Appomattox,  that  made  him  the  savior 
of  the  Union,  the  emancipator  of  a  race. 

Mankind  sitting  in  the  high  courts  of  enthroned 
justice  will  ever  condemn  Aaron  Burr  to  public 
execration,  but  posterity  should  always  grant  a  sigh 
of  pity  for  him  in  death.  With  the  silver  of  eighty 
years  touching  his  withered  brow,  with  a  body 
weakened  and  a  mind  broken,  he  gazes  upon  a  dark 
eternity.  In  that  silent  bed  chamber  I  see  him  in  the 
throes  of  grief  and  remorse.  His  defiant  soul  is 
humbled  and  his  proud  heart  broken  by  the  death  of 
his  beloved  Theodosia.  This  was  the  greatest  loss 
in  his  tragedy  of  sorrows,  and  with  the  death  of  this 
loved  one  Aaron  Burr  was  forever  "severed  from 
the  human  race."  I  see  him,  joyless  and  alone,  dy- 
ing in  a  lonely  garret.  No  hand  is  there  to  smooth 
his  troubled  brow;  no  whisper  of  hope  reaches  his 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  123 

ear,  while  death  hovers  over  him,  eager  to  grasp  its 
victim,  and  the  great  clock  of  time  is  slowly  ticking 
out  the  last  moments  of  his  wasted  life.  In  that 
eye,  now  glazing  in  death,  there  gleams  no  hope  of 
immortality,  no  trust  in  God.  Aaron  Burr,  forgotten 
and  perishing,  owns  not  a  single  friend  to  weep  for 
him  as  he  silently  enters  that  dark,  endless  night 
of  death. 

Oh!  Immortal  Man!  Hear  the  warning  of  de- 
feated greatness.  From  the  distant  gloom  thou 
mayest  hear  his  blighted  spirit  uttering  this  solemn 
admonition: 

Mortals,  hastening  through  life,  architects  of 
soul  eternities,  would  you  leave  your  impress  on  a 
nation's  heart,  would  you  be  honored  in  the  halls  of 
human  memory?  Put  on  the  armor  of  Eternal  Truth, 
live  for  humanity.  Would  you  ennoble  self?  For- 
get it.  Would  you  assure  your  soul  an  Immortality? 
Employ  it  for  God. 


SIXTEENTH  CONTEST  (1903) 
GOETHE 

(MISS    ANNA    BAGSTAD.    YANKTON    COLLEGE) 


We  think  of  human  life  today  as  a  thing 
planned,  whose  end  and  aim  is  perfection.  We  are 
not  willing  to  believe  that  any  life  was  intended  to 
be  a  partial,  a  fragmentary  thing.  We  reject  the 
ascetic  ideal  because  asceticism  tends  to  the  limit- 
ing and  restricting  of  power.  We  believe  in  the 
fullest  development;  we  believe  in  the  abundant  life. 
He  whom  we,  in  strictest  speech,  can  call  a  man 
must  be  a  harmony  of  the  physical,  intellectual  and 
spiritual,  brought  to  the  highest  perfection — a  being 
"clear  and  universal."  Nearest  to  this  ideal  is  the 
poet-philosopher,  Goethe. 

More  than  seventy  years  have  rolled  away  since 
Goethe  died.  Seventy  years  of  progress,  of  change 
so  rapid  and  so  radical  that  one  might  almost  say 
a  new  world  has  come  to  replace  the  old.  Horizons 
widening,  light  undreamed  of,  flashing  upon  our 
vision,  life  interests  and  relations  bewildering  in 
their  multiplicity,  clarion  calls  to  action  that  will 
not  be  unheeded.  The  present — the  today — teeming 
with  possibilities,  with  problems,  with  duties;  what 
time  have  we  for  the  past?  Let  it  bury  its  dead! 

Yet  are  we  not  the  "heirs  of  all  the  ages?" 
Whence  comes  our  inheritance?  What  is  this  that 
we  call  the  present?  Who  shall  draw  for  us  the 
dividing  line  between  that  which  is  and  that  which 
has  been?  What  do  we  mean  when  we  speak  of 
the  living  and  of  the  dead?  Lived  Christ  only  in 
the  first  century?  If  he  lives  not  more  vitally  in 
the  twentieth  century,  then  it  were  better  for  the 
world  if  he  had  never  lived.  Surely  it  was  not 
Shakespeare  who  died  on  that  English  April  day, 


126  WINNING  ORATIONS 

three  hundred  years  ago.  Dare  we  say  that  Mc- 
Kinley's  life  was  ended  by  the  bullet  of  the  assassin? 
Say  rather  transfigured,  exalted  into  a  potency  that 
shall  work  for  private  purity  and  civic  righteous- 
ness in  all  time  to  come. 

"What  is  excellent,"  says  Emerson,  "as  God 
lives,  is  permanent."  And  no  artificial  boundaries 
of  time  or  place  can  confine  the  spirit  that  is  truly 
great.  He  bequeaths  a  heritage  unto  all  lands  and 
tongues  and  centuries.  He  is  the  world's  like  the 
air  and  the  sunrise  and  the  starry  heavens. 

It  was  about  the  year  1772 — Era  of  paramount 
Voltairism,  the  day  of  the  Infallible  Encyclopedia 
and  the  Gospel  according  to  Jean  Jacques  Rous- 
seau. These  two  Frenchmen,  Voltaire  and  Rous- 
seau, had  for  three  decades  guided  and  moulded  the 
thought  of  their  time.  Voltaire  stood  for  ration- 
alism, for  the  supremacy  of  the  intellect;  he  fought 
manfully  to  enfranchise  the  understanding.  But 
he  lacked  insight  into  the  deepest  and  sorest  needs 
of  the  time.  His  was  the  spirit  of  denial  and  de- 
struction. 

Rousseau,  on  the  other  hand,  "dreamed,  brooded, 
suffered"  to  liberate  the  heart.  His  ideal  was  the 
natural  life,  raw,  crude,  unrestrained,  the  life  of 
the  emotions.  This  became  the  ideal  of  Romanti- 
cism. 

The  new  literary  movement,  so  called,  had 
come  gradually  upon  Europe.  It  stood  for  freedom 
— for  religious  freedom  from  creed  and  dogma,  for 
civil  freedom  from  political  tyranny,  for  freedom 
from  convention  and  fixed  rule  in  art — for  the  free- 
dom of  the  individual  to  live  and  to  feel  as  nature 
intended  that  he  should. 

It  was  a  beautiful  movement — in  theory  at  least. 
It  was  effective  too,  for  it  broadened  men's  minds 
and  deepened  their  sympathies  and  kindled  life  into 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  127 

a  new  warmth.  But  the  leaders  of  the  movement 
lacked  clearness,  discipline,  self-control.  Liberty 
became  synonymous  with  lawlessness  and  license. 
Vapid  sentimentality  and  sensuousness  became  not 
only  tolerated  but  lauded  because,  forsooth,  they 
sprung  from  the  heart.  Introspection,  brooding 
over  real  or  imaginary  sorrows,  sapped  the  vital 
energies  and  diseased  the  mind. 

A  young  man  has  just  returned  to  his  father's 
house  at  Frankfort-on-the-Main,  fresh  from  the 
university,  a  doctor  of  jurisprudence  at  twenty- 
three.  There  are  wild  rumors  afloat  concerning  his 
student  days.  The  veneer  of  the  schools  has  not 
affected  seriously  this  lithe-limbed  son  of  nature, 
whose  great  eyes  those  who  looked  into  them  never 
forgot,  this  German  Apollo  with  the  tumultuous  dark 
hair.  And  he  is  the  compound  of  the  wisdom  and 
the  folly  of  his  age;  the  "Storm  and  Stress"  of  the 
conflicting  currents  of  the  time,  meet  and  beat  in 
this  youth. 

He  is  passionate,  discordant,  defiant  of  all  order 
and  restraint;  he  is  by  turns  a  skeptic  and  a  dev- 
otee; he  is  lawless  insurgent,  explosive,  senti- 
mental, vacillating  between  wild  hilarity  and  tear- 
ful meditations  on  suicide. 

This  was  the  Goethe  of  1772;  the  product  of 
his  age  with  all  its  agonized  aspiration  and  excess, 
the  pupil  of  the  self  torturing  Rousseau,  he  who 
had  invested  all  passion  with  a  halo  and  "made 
even  madness  beautiful;"  this  was  the  author  of 
Goetz  von  Berlichingen  and  the  Sorrows  of  Werther. 

Of  these  romance  heroes,  Goetz  is  a  free-booter, 
Werther  a  dreaming  sentimentalist  who  shoots  him- 
self out  of  love  for  his  friend's  wife.  Both  are  but 
phases  of  the  character  of  the  young  Goethe.  They 
are  such  men  as  Byron  might  have  created  and  did 
create.  These  discordant  appeals  to  a  time  out  of 


128  WINNING  ORATIONS 

joint  became  the  sensation  of  the  hour.  They  made 
Goethe  the  literary  lion  of  Germany;  his  fame 
spread  over  Europe;  he  was  hailed  the  leader  of 
Romanticism. 

But  the  mind  that  produced  these  works  had 
already  passed  beyond  the  delirium  they  express. 
He  had  begun  to  see  clearly,  to  look  not  at  himself, 
the  picturesque  volcano,  but  at  the  plain  with  its 
commonplace  men,  with  sordid  every  day  affairs. 
He  had  seen  the  disease  of  his  age,  had  portrayed, 
had  been  the  disease;  he  was  to  become  its  healer. 

But  the  tide  of  popularity,  the  storm  of  ap- 
plause— is  he  able  to  resist  that?  This  glorious 
youth  whom  it  would  seem  the  gods  had  anointed 
to  lead  men  into  that  fairy  realm  of  absolutely  un- 
restrained liberty,  into  that  nature  state  above  and 
beyond  all  physical  and  moral  law — dared  he  re- 
fuse? Publishers  thronged  him  with  demands  for 
more  of  Goetz  and  of  Werther.  Here  was  wealth 
and  a  kingdom. 

He  had  been  a  dreamer,  he  would  be  a  doer,  a 
helper.  Was  this  to  be  attained  by  the  swash- 
buckler's sword  of  Goetz,  by  the  dreams  of  the  mys- 
tic? No!  he  followed  the  only  rational  way,  he 
learned  by  doing.  The  poet  was  silent,  Goethe  the 
man,  labored  with  men;  he  made  their  interests  his 
interests.  For  ten  years  in  the  little  grand  duchy 
of  Weimar,  he  planned  and  constructed  roads,  he 
organized  fire  departments.  The  selfish  sorrows  of 
Werther  were  forgotten  in  the  joys  of  a  life  devoted 
to  human  service. 

Did  the  spirit  of  the  poet  die  during  those  ten 
years  of  apprenticeship?  Had  not  the  Apollo  sunk 
into  a  mere  martyred  Prometheus  chained  to  the 
earth?  Farther  from  all  thought  of  martyrdom  man 
never  was.  Those  ten  years  he  calls  the  second 
period  of  his  literary  activity;  and  yet  he  wrote 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  129 

nothing.  He  had  learned — what?  The  lesson  that 
Rousseau  and  Shelley  and  Byron  never  learned,  the 
lesson  of  order.  He  who  had  defied  all  law  had 
come  to  know  that  all  life  and  all  activity,  to  be 
effective,  to  be  beautiful  must  conform  to  law;  that 
liberty  itself  must  come,  not  through  violence  and 
anarchy  but  through  submission  to  physical  and 
moral  law.  He  found  himself  now,  as  he  tells  us 
for  the  first  time  tranquil  and  happy,  resolved  to 
deal  with  life  no  longer  by  halves,  but  to  live  re- 
solutely for  the  Whole,  the  Good  and  the  Beautiful. 

He  was  thirty-six  when  he  left  Weimar  for 
Italy.  There  he  awoke  to  the  splendors  of  classic 
literature  and  classic  art.  Beauty  had  been  the 
object  of  his  sensuous  love;  he  saw  it  now  for  the 
first  time  in  all  its  holiness.  With  renewed  zeal  he 
gave  himself  to  literature.  In  his  dramas  and  in  his 
matchless  lyrics  there  is  all  the  freedom,  ease  and 
grace  of  Romanticism  and  there  is  all  the  symmetry 
and  consummate  art  of  the  classics.  He  had  traced 
poetry,  painting,  and  sculpture  to  their  source;  he 
had  mastered  the  laws  that  govern  the  beauties  of 
art. 

His  interests  extended  to  all  life  and  to  all 
knowledge.  Like  another  Pericles  he  drew  unto  him- 
self the  best  of  all  lands  and  times  and  systems. 

The  tragedy  of  Faust,  begun  in  his  youth,  be- 
came the  crowning  achievement  of  his  old  age.  It 
is  the  great  drama  of  life  woven  with  masterly  skill 
upon  the  framework  of  an  old  tradition.  It  is  as 
varied  and  as  splendid  in  its  variety  as  was  the  life 
of  its  author.  Not  content  with  the  theatre  of 
earth  Goethe,  with  more  than  Milton's  daring,  made 
heaven  and  hell  his  stage.  He  mingles  the  remote 
past  with  the  eternities  of  the  future.  God  and  the 
archangels,  Satan  and  his  hosts,  Helen  of  Troy  and 
the  heroes  of  ancient  Greece,  Grecian  art,  modern 


130  WINNING  ORATIONS 

poetry — all  are  united  in  this  poem,  the  greatest  of 
the  century  and — shall  we  say — of  modern  times. 

But  Goethe's  life  is  more  wonderful  than  any- 
thing that  he  has  written.  It  is  his  noblest  work 
of  art.  He  stands  for  the  complete  development  of 
the  individual.  He  is  himself  the  clearest  example 
of  that  individual  most  worthy  to  be  called  a  man. 
"He  is  neither  noble  nor  plebean,  nor  liberal  noi 
servile,  nor  infidel  nor  devotee,  but  the  best  excel- 
lence of  all  these  joined  in  pure  union."  He,  and 
he  alone  of  the  thoughtful  men  of  the  time,  lived  out 
his  life,  active  and  hopeful  to  the  end.  The  English 
Byron,  the  most  powerful  of  his  contemporaries,  dies 
at  thirty-six  exhausted  in  body  and  in  spirit.  Shel- 
ley at  thirty-one  seeks  death  in  the  sea.  Words- 
worth and  Coleridge,  when  the  enthusiasm  of  youth 
had  been  chilled,  when  an  impossible  liberty  had 
proved  a  delusion,  these  men  withdrew  themselves 
into  a  narrow  shell  of  political  and  religious  con- 
servatism because  they  dared  not  face  the  future. 
"Goethe,  too,  had  suffered  and  mourned  in  bitter 
agony  over  the  spiritual  perplexities  of  the  time; 
but  he  has  also  mastered  these.  He  has  risen  above 
them  and  he  has  shown  others  how  to  rise  above 
them.  And  he  believes,  not  by  denying  his  unbelief 
but  by  following  it  out.  Not  by  stopping  short,  still 
less  by  turning  back  in  his  inquiries,  but  by  re- 
solutely prosecuting  them.  How  has  this  man  to 
whom  the  world  once  offered  nothing  but  blackness, 
denial  and  despair,  attained  to  that  better  vision 
which  now  shows  it  to  him,  not  tolerable  only  but 
full  of  solemnity  and  loveliness!" 

"More  light!"  were  the  words  which  closed  the 
noble  fifth  act  of  the  great  drama.  To  the  young 
nineteenth  century,  he  bequeathed  the  works  and 
the  example  of  a  man,  clear  and  complete  and  har- 
monious— the  noblest  type  the  past  can  give,  the 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  131 

fairest  inspiration  of  what  the  present  with  all  its 
large  opportunities  is  able  to  become. 

Let  us  cease  then,  to  think  of  this  man  as  mere- 
ly the  contributor  of  a  few  good  volumes  to  the 
world's  literature,  as  an  eighteenth  century  Ger- 
man who  paved  the  way  for  a  free  and  united 
nation.  That  is  all  true  and  excellent  had  he  done 
no  more.  But  he  inaugurated  a  new  life.  He  stands 
for  a  new  Renaissance,  for  the  life  of  the  spirit  in 
the  modern  world.  He  first  saw  its  possibilities,  he 
first  revealed  the  grandeur  of  its  achievements,  he 
enunciated  the  laws  that  must  govern  those  achieve- 
ments. His  gospel  of  hope,  of  cheerful,  patient, 
unceasing  activity,  of  resolute  living  for  the  whole, 
the  good  and  the  beautiful — does  not  that  ring  re- 
echoing through  the  best  that  men  think  and  do 
today? 

He  mingled  the  passion  and  enthusiasm  of 
youth  with  the  sane  wisdom  of  manhood.  He  has 
revealed  life  abundant  in  the  full  consciousness  and 
control  of  its  powers.  "He  is  the  prophet  of  man- 
kind under  new  conditions  and  new  circumstances, 
the  appointed  teacher  of  ages  yet  to  come." 


SEVENTEENTH  CONTEST  (1904) 
OLIVER  CROMWELL 

(JAMES    E.    CROWTHER.    DAKOTA    WESLEYAN 
UNIVERSITY) 


The  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century 
marked  the  decline  and  fall  of  true  kingship  in 
England.  When  the  House  of  Tudor,  strong,  proud, 
imperious,  closed  its  eventful  history,  the  insignia 
of  royalty  passed  to  the  Stuarts.  Strength,  pomp, 
and  pageantry  lay  buried  in  the  sepulchre;  weak- 
ness, mediocrity,  and  pedantry  sat  upon  the  throne. 
How  great  and  sad  a  change!  For  nearly  two  cen- 
turies England  had  been  governed  by  powerful 
rulers,  who,  whether  loved  or  hated,  were  always 
feared.  But  the  Stuarts  were  neither  loved,  hated, 
nor  feared;  they  were  despised,  loathed  even  by 
steadfast  loyalty.  Incompetence  was  their  heritage; 
it  characterized  their  reign  from  first  to  last.  They 
were  egotists,  ignorant  of  the  temper  of  their  people, 
unobservant  of  the  times.  Recklessly  would  they 
open  the  flood  gates  of  national  wrath,  then  strive 
with  puny  hands  to  stem  the  whelming  torrent,  or 
retreat  with  ridiculous  haste.  A  nation's  pride  was 
wounded,  her  honor  outraged,  her  most  sacred 
rights  trampled  in  the  mire.  A  people's  welfare 
was  bartered  in  the  shambles  of  alien  powers,  and 
their  treasure  forged  into  fetters  to  bind  the  limbs 
of  Liberty.  At  last  came  the  inevitable  rupture, 
when  King  and  Parliament  made  their  appeal  to  the 
sword  and  plunged  England  into  civil  strife. 

The  demand  for  reform  materialized  in  the 
Puritan  standard  of  government,  whose  fundamental 
principle  was  man's  freedom  and  God's  sovereignty. 
The  theory  of  the  "Divine  right  of  Kings"  was  a 
challenge  to  Puritanism,  and  a  trespass  upon  the  in- 


134  WINNING  ORATIONS 

alienable  rights  of  the  people.  The  question  to  be 
decided  was,  "Shall  the  King  have  arbitrary  power?" 
It  was  a  battle  for  liberty,  the  cause  of  our  common 
humanity.  The  two  armies  were  representative  of 
democracy  and  autocracy;  beasts  of  burden  were  ar- 
rayed against  beasts  of  prey.  Such  times  demand 
and  generate  greatness.  In  response  to  the  call  of 
freedom,  Oliver  Cromwell  stepped  into  the  arena  of 
stirring  action,  full  panoplied  in  the  maturity  of  his 
manhood.  He  came  as  a  knight  errant,  heralding 
the  fall  of  tyranny  and  the  rise  of  democracy.  He 
was  the  product  of  revolution,  the  embodiment  of 
Puritanism,  the  "Grand  Remonstrance"  personified. 
His  martial  genius,  his  statesmanship,  and  his  per- 
sonal character  eminently  fitted  him  for  a  task  to 
which  God  had  joined  great  issues — the  saving  of  the 
nation  and  of  Puritanism.  Like  a  mighty  oak  en- 
dued with  strength  for  storm  and  turbulence,  he 
stood  militant,  brawny,  majestic. 

The  revolution  called  forth  the  martial  great- 
ness of  the  nation;  it  was  a  conflict  of  giants. 
Towering  above  all  in  Royalist  or  Roundhead  camp 
stood  Cromwell,  the  commander  of  the  Parliamentary 
forces.  The  blood  of  Achilles  was  in  his  veins;  the 
omnipotence  of  a  mighty  purpose  possessed  his  soul. 
He  was  built  on  the  Old  Testament  plan,  his  warfare 
savoring  of  the  battlefields  of  Joshua  and  Gideon. 
How  striking  the  contrast  between  this  genius  of 
Puritanism  and  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  "God  is  on 
the  side  of  the  big  battalions,"  said  the  French 
despot.  He  relied  on  military  strategy  and  power- 
ful artillery;  Cromwell  relied  on  the  Lord  Omnipo- 
tent. The  secret  of  his  invincibility  was  his  pray- 
ing cavalry.  He  knew  that  the  power  of  an  army 
consisted  not  in  numbers  and  armaments,  but  in 
giant  souls  impelled  by  noble  purpose.  Cromwell's 
Puritan  character  was  manifest  in  the  "massive 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  135 

directness"  of  his  attack.  Welding  his  Ironsides 
into  a  thunderbolt,  he  would  hurl  them  against  the 
enemy's  center,  breaking  through  the  stoutest  regi- 
ments, and  scattering  them  like  autumn  leaves.  See 
him  at  the  battle  of  Dunbar.  Never  was  a  general 
in  more  hopeless  plight;  the  sea  behind  him,  twenty- 
three  thousand  jubilant  foes  on  the  hills  before  him, 
his  own  force  reduced  by  disease  and  death  to  less 
than  half  that  number.  On  the  morrow,  the  decisive 
battle  of  the  Revolution  was  to  be  fought.  All  night 
long  through  the  drizzling  rain  these  Puritans 
prayed  to  the  Lord  of  Hosts;  they  prayed — and 
kept  their  powder  dry.  Before  the  break  of  day  the 
trumpets  pealed  forth  and  the  battle  began.  For 
an  hour  the  conflict  raged  furiously  on  the  right; 
the  two  armies  now  advancing,  now  retreating, 
swayed  and  grappled  as  in  the  throes  of  death. 
Suddenly  fell  on  the  ears  of  the  enemy  the  measured 
thud  of  galloping  steeds,  and  above  the  din  of  battle 
was  heard  the  chanting  of  Psalms.  Like  an  over- 
whelming avalanche,  Cromwell's  Ironsides  swept 
round  the  hill,  and  with  mighty  battle  cry,  rode 
proudly  toward  the  center  of  the  enemy,  while  the 
sun,  breaking  through  the  morning  mist,  cast  its 
radiance  over  the  sea  and  hills,  and  flashed  along  the 
glittering  lines  of  steel.  Then  Cromwell  rising  in 
his  saddle  with  uplifted  sword  cried,  "Let  God  arise 
and  let  His  enemies  be  scattered."  Horse  and  foot 
now  charged  resistlessly  on  every  side;  the  Scottish 
ranks  fell  back  wrecked  and  shattered  in  tumultuous 
flight.  Before  nine  o'clock,  three  thousand  of  the 
enemy  were  slain,  and  ten  thousand  prisoners  with 
all  their  baggage  and  train  were  in  the  hands  of 
Cromwell,  who  lost  not  thirty  men.  Such  was  Oliver 
Cromwell,  the  invincible  warrior!  Pride  of  the  na- 
tion! Born  to  be  a  king! 


136  WINNING  ORATIONS 

As  an  organizer  and  leader  of  men,  he  ranks 
among  the  world's  greatest  statesmen.  At  the  close 
of  the  Revolutionary  War,  England  was  a  house 
divided  against  itself;  religious  and  political  factions 
were  quarreling  over  principles  of  government  and 
clamoring  for  supremacy.  The  people,  trained  in  a 
school  of  tyranny,  were  unprepared  for  self-govern- 
ment; they  could  dethrone  their  king,  but  they  could 
not  crown  themselves.  Chaos  reigned  supreme; 
anarchy  or  a  return  of  tyranny  seemed  inevitable. 
There  was  but  one  alternative;  some  strong  man 
must  unify  the  dissevered  and  discordant  elements, 
and  guide  the  nation  to  safety,  prosperity,  and 
peace.  That  man  was  Oliver  Cromwell;  the  exigen- 
cies of  the  hour  pronounced  his  name.  We  need 
invoke  neither  craft  nor  ambition  to  explain  his 
political  supremacy;  it  was  the  triumph  of  capacity. 
His  leadership,  his  discernment,  and  his  compre- 
hension of  vast  problems  mark  him  as  a  great 
statesman.  He  saw  through  the  seventeenth  century 
glass,  darkly  it  is  true,  but  he  saw.  He  was  a  man 
in  advance  of  his  time,  a  pioneer  of  Anglo-Saxon 
democracy  fighting  his  battles  on  the  outposts  of 
civilization.  The  glorious  thunders  of  Naseby  and 
Marston  Moor  were  to  be  heard  again  at  Valley 
Forge  and  Gettysburg.  In  his  warfare,  he  had 
drawn  the  sword  against  crime  as  a  crowned  and 
gilded  institution.  The  jewels  in  the  Stuarts'  crown 
were  crystallized  from  peasants'  tears;  their  royal 
robes  were  crimson-dyed  with  plebeian  blood.  Crom- 
well cut  the  despots'  shattered  sceptre  through,  and 
wrote  as  in  eternal  brass  the  thing  that  should  not 
be  in  England.  But  after  the  battle  of  Worcester 
he  sheathed  the  sword  forever,  and  addressed  him- 
self to  the  work  of  reform.  His  rule  as  Protector 
of  the  Commonwealth,  though  arbitrary,  was  benefi- 
cent. His  despotism  was  not  the  mountain  tor- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  137 

rent,  covering  fruitful  fields  with  worthless  drift, 
but  the  overflowing  Nile,  making  deserts  to  blossom 
as  the  garden  of  the  Lord.  National  prosperity, 
religious  freedom,  and  higher  education  attended  his 
administration.  He  staunched  the  bleeding  wounds 
of  Protestantism  and  dried  her  tears.  Kings  and 
prelates  made  restitution  for  wrongs  inflicted; 
pirates  cowered  in  their  caves.  He  befriended  the 
American  colonies  by  freeing  them  from  rapacious 
governors;  he  seized  Gibraltar,  the  foundation  of 
England's  world-wide  expansion,  and  became  the 
father  of  her  maritime  greatness.  "Never  was  any 
man  so  conspicuously  born  for  sovereignty."  He 
saved  a  nation  from  anarchy  and  bankruptcy,  and 
gave  to  her  name  imperishable  glory. 

But  superior  to  all  achievement  is  the  man 
himself.  Character  is  nobler  than  intellect;  integ- 
rity than  genius.  Cromwell's  richest  legacy  to  the 
world  is  the  moral  force  of  personal  virtue.  His 
life,  unsullied  by  private  vice,  is  a  standing  rebuke 
to  all  iniquity.  He  could  say  with  another,  "You 
may  write  my  life  across  the  sky,  I  have  naught  to 
hide."  He  stands  forth  amid  the  corruption  of  his 
day,  like  a  sun-crowned  mountain  peak,  regal  with 
dignity  beyond  that  of  kings.  His  appreciation  of 
the  magnitude  of  his  task  often  made  him  moody, 
silent,  melancholy.  To  him,  every  moment  trembled 
with  possibility;  every  hour  was  big  with  destiny. 
He  lived  as  one  who  should  give  an  account  to  the 
Sovereign  of  the  Universe;  his  whole  life  was 
crowded  with  sacrificial  service.  Few  men  have 
been  so  misinterpreted  as  Cromwell.  His  early  bio- 
graphers, being  royalists,  wrote  with  malicious  pen 
and  spake  with  venomed  tongue,  picturing  him  as 
an  unmitigated  hypocrite,  the  embodiment  of  in- 
satiable ambition;  as  an  outlaw,  who  stirred  up  in- 
surrection against  the  king,  and  then  usurped  the 


138  WINNING  ORATIONS 

throne.  The  greatness  of  his  genius  was  an  object 
of  envy  to  jealous  inferiority.  His  supreme  confi- 
dence in  himself  and  in  his  cause,  they  ascribed  to 
egotism;  but  it  was  the  same  quality  which  made 
Savonarola,  Luther,  and  Paul  molders  of  world 
thought  and  world  destinies.  Cromwell  was  a 
"practical  mystic,"  the  most  potent  of  all  combina- 
tions. He  was  endowed  with  a  power  of  reticence 
which  was  sometimes  to  pass  for  hypocrisy,  with  an 
adaptability  for  adjusting  means  to  ends  often  taken 
for  craft,  and  with  a  high-hearted  insistence  on  de- 
termined ends  which  some  called  ambition.  Nor  do 
we  blush  to  eulogize  him  as  an  outlaw.  As  the 
avowed  foe  of  crowned  presumption,  he  stands  side 
by  side  with  that  "immortal  rebel,"  George 
Washington.  With  these  two  stands  another  in- 
surrectionist who  went  to  Heaven  from  a  scaffold, 
and  ascending  bore  with  him  the  fetters  of  four 
million  slaves,  which  by  Heaven's  strange  alchemy 
became  his  diadem  of  glory,  and  John  Brown  demon- 
strates to  the  world  that  a  man  may  be  a  rebel  and 
yet  a  patriot.  When  Cromwell  died  he  was  buried 
in  Westminster  Abbey,  "the  temple  of  silence  and 
reconciliation."  But  on  the  return  of  Charles  the 
Second  with  his  retinue  of  lewdness,  the  royalists 
disinterred  his  bones  and  buried  them  beneath  the 
gallows.  Look  we  for  justice  among  such  men?  If 
we  would  know  Washington,  Hamilton,  Jay,  or 
Adams,  shall  we  look  to  sneering  cavaliers  who 
drank  the  health  of  good  King  George?  Yearning 
to  interpret  the  Christ  life,  shall  we  sit  at  the  feet 
of  Pharisee  and  Sadducee?  See  the  travesty  which 
they  nail  to  His  cross,  the  record  of  His  life  and 
work,  "He  made  Himself  the  King  of  the  Jews." 
Such  was  Cromwell's  epitaph;  but  it  has  been 
erased  and  revised  by  our  later  seers  whose  ver- 
dict is  based  not  on  prejudice  and  acrimony,  but 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  139 

on  equity  and  truth.  Today  we  laud  him  as  a  saint, 
a  patriot,  an  uncrowned  king.  Kingly  indeed  was 
his  life.  Leisure,  comfort,  fortune,  home,  were  ex- 
changed for  anxiety,  hardship,  peril,  and  calumny. 
Yea,  he  counted  not  his  life  dear,  but  laid  it  un- 
grudgingly on  the  nation's  altar  that  she  might  know 
the  truth  which  made  her  free. 

At  last,  worn  out  in  the  service  of  his  country, 
he  lies  down  to  die.  It  is  September  the  third,  six- 
teen hundred  and  fifty-eight,  the  anniversary  of  Dun- 
bar  and  Worcester.  A  terrific  storm  sweeps  over  the 
land,  beclouding  all  nature  with  darkness  and 
gloom;  a  funeral  pall  enshrouds  the  nation.  The 
angry  tempest  calls  with  brazen  trumpet  as  if  to 
battle — aye,  to  the  last  battle.  But  to  Cromwell  it 
is  the  echo  of  Heavenly  bugles,  calling  him  to  the 
presence  of  his  King.  Borne  in  the  chariot  of  the 
tempest,  his  mighty  soul,  storm-tossed  these  many, 
many  years,  mounts  upward  to  the  plains  of  light, 
there  to  be  crowned  with  more  than  royal  splendor, 
his  eulogy  pronounced  by  lips  divine. 

Like  Moses,  Wycliffe,  and  Savonarola,  he  sleeps 
in  an  unknown  grave;  but  his  "spirit  with  theirs 
lives  to  exalt  mankind."  Fajn  would  we  turn  our 
footsteps  to  his  shrine,  for  it  is  hallowed  ground 
where  heroes  rest.  But  this  can  never  be.  No 
cathedral  or  mausoleum  shall  ever  receive  him;  he 
belongs  to  all  the  world.  Cromwell  is  enshrined  in 
the  heart  of  humanity. 


EIGHTEENTH  CONTEST  (1905) 
ROBERT  BURNS 

(BURTON   F.    TANNER.    DAKOTA   UNIVERSITY) 


By  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century,  true 
patriotism  in  Scotland  had  passed  away.  The  people 
were  no  longer  thrilled  with  the  heroic  spirit  of 
Wallace  and  Bruce.  The  inspiration  of  the  olden 
time  was  gone  from  their  life.  Scotia's  sons  were 
stern  and  rigid  as  her  crags  and  cliffs.  Cold  and 
indifferent,  they  followed  grimly  a  line  of  conduct, 
caring  little  for  the  woes  of  men.  Theirs  was  a 
world  of  fact,  not  of  feeling.  They  closed  their 
hearts  to  all  beauty  and  tenderness;  and  before  the 
grandeur  of  nature  or  amid  the  sorrows  of  men, 
they  were  alike  unmoved.  A  cloud,  thick  and  heavy 
as  night,  floating  just  above  the  earth,  shut  out 
from  their  vision  the  true  God.  They  thought  him 
a  tyrant  Calvary  shed  no  light  of  love  to  illumine 
the  heart  and  inspire  the  soul.  In  the  life  of  the 
rugged  Scotchman,  emotion  had  no  place.  Duty, 
"Stern  daughter  of  the  voice  of  God,"  ruled  su- 
preme. Into  such  environment  came  the  plowman 
poet,  Robert  Burns. 

Men  differ  in  their  estimates  of  the  character 
and  motives  of  this  man;  but  they  agree  that  he 
was  a  genius.  We  pause  before  judging  him,  lest 
we  condemn  where  we  know  not.  But  he  is  our- 
selves cast  in  larger  mould.  His  good  is  only  better 
than  ours;  his  evil  worse.  It  is  not  our  purpose  to 
discuss  the  morals  of  Burns  except  to  say  that 
judged  by  the  French,  his  morality  would  not  be 
questioned,  but  thrown  against  a  Scottish  back- 
ground, he  is  a  black  spot  on  white  canvas.  Believ- 
ing in  the  great  law  of  summation,  we  shall  not  rant 


142  WINNING  ORATIONS 

or  rail  against  the  detailed  evil  of  this  erratic  child 
of  Scotland,  nor  flaunt  his  faults  before  the  world. 
We  shall  judge  him  by  his  struggles,  and  by  his 
achievements. 

This  peasant  was  born  on  a  wild  night  in 
January,  1759,  in  a  clay  cottage  on  the  banks  of  the 
Boon.  He  came  amid  the  turmoil  of  nature,  and 
soon  gave  evidence  that  the  unrest  of  the  tempest 
was  in  his  soul.  The  first  hours  of  the  babe  were 
portentious;  they  seemed  to  foretell  the  gloom  and 
sorrow  of  the  future.  The  Ayrshire  boy  was  out 
of  harmony  with  his  environment.  His  was  a  re- 
sponsive nature,  longing  for  sympathy  and  inspira- 
tion; but  the  barren  social  life  of  the  age  had  little 
to  give.  Men  about  him  saw  fact  farthest  from 
fancy,  and  thought  a  show  of  tenderness  and  emo- 
tion was  weakness.  The  dull,  prosaic  life  of  the 
Scotchman  gave  him  no  impulse  for  upward  climb- 
ing. In  that  cold  world  his  fiery  heart  was  ill  at 
ease.  He  was  a  stranger  in  a  strange  land  with 
nothing  but  the  hills  and  valleys  to  inspire  him.  His 
whole  life  was  a  battle  with  the  social  condition 
without  and  his  native  moral  tendencies  within. 

The  mental  endowment  of  Burns  made  his  life 
a  tragedy.  He  was  a  man  of  brilliant  intellect, 
strong  passion  and  weak  will — a  disastrous  com- 
bination, Good  and  Evil  met  giant-size  in  his  heart, 
and  a  battle  ensued.  Like  Byron  and  Poe  his  life 
was  a  conflict  because  passion  was  stronger  than 
will.  In  his  perplexity  he  became  moody  and 
melancholy;  each  moment  right  and  wrong  fought 
for  supremacy;  each  day  saw  a  crisis.  Only  the 
innate  principles  of  his  soul,  the  principles  of  "The 
Sermon  on  the  Mount"  could  save  him.  But  he  did 
not  listen  to  the  voice  from  heaven.  He  was  alone, 
sorely  smitten  by  the  unrest  of  sin.  Unable  to 
withstand  the  buffets  of  an  unsympathetic  world, 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  143 

worn  by  contending  passions,  he  begins  his  descent 
into  Avernus.  Oh,  that  he  might  meet  some  strong, 
noble  character,  great  enough  to  overpower  evil  with 
good.  His  actions  are  no  longer  tragic  but  pathetic. 
In  his  pitiable  weakness,  Burns  loses  the  virtue 
dearest  to  every  Scotchman — his  sobriety;  and  with 
each  step  he  sinks  lower.  With  what  pity  do  we 
look  upon  the  suffering  of  this  genius.  How  he 
struggles  to  rise  only  to  fall  again.  With  what 
bitter  anguish  he  recalls  his  days  of  innocence.  With 
what  determination  he  resolves,  come  what  may, 
to  be  strong,  but  he  cannot,  his  will  is  gone.  Leav- 
ing God  out  of  his  life  he  strives  to  walk  alone,  but 
unaided  he  cannot  walk  aright.  Yet  Burns  was  an 
honest  soul.  He  could  look  men  squarely  in  the 
eye.  When  conscience  was  seared  and  conviction 
trampled  upon,  he  would  not  cringe  nor  would  he 
pretend  to  be  what  he  was  not.  Hypocrisy  was 
never  his  companion.  Too  truthful  to  deny  his 
guilt,  he  took  refuge  in  a  haughty  independence,  the 
rock  upon  which  many  a  soul  has  been  wrecked  for 
eternity.  We  pity,  and  pitying,  love  him.  The  tears 
come  unbidden  as  we  think  of  the  last  months  of 
his  life.  Oh,  the  sorrow  of  it  all!  Oppressed  by 
poverty,  deserted  by  friends,  weary  and  sick  from 
struggle,  he  passes  to  that  "bourne  whence  no 
traveler  returns."  But  in  death  the  wanderer  finds 
the  way  to  his  maker,  who,  tempering  justice  with 
mercy,  will  judge  him  as  he  is,  not  as  he  appears 
to  the  world. 

Burns  stands  forth  a  great  though  tragic  hero 
in  literature.  With  Byron  and  Poe,  he  thought 
nobly  but  lived  ignobly.  Do  not  say  that  evil  tri- 
umphed. If  we  should  write  above  his  grave,  "He 
failed,  his  life  ended  with  the  tomb,"  we  should  be 
guilty  of  gross  injustice.  From  the  turmoil  of  his 
life  did  he  give  no  treasure  to  the  world?  Hear  the 


144  WINNING  ORATIONS 

verdict  of  the  centuries: — The  fire  of  his  contending 
passions  burned  out  the  evil,  and  left  the  good  to 
bless  mankind.  When  Burns  died,  he  gave  his  best 
self  to  the  world  that  scorned  him,  and  today  we 
judge  him  by  his  gift. 

In  all  his  conflict  with  evil  Burns  sang  of  truths 
to  which  the  world  now  gladly  listens.  His  message 
to  the  twentieth  century  is  a  message  of  simplicity 
and  kindness.  He  comes  to  us  as  an  embodiment 
of  simple  things,  as  a  child  of  nature,  teaching  men 
to  see  life  as  it  is.  He  pours  out  his  love  for  the 
true  and  the  lowly  in  lyrics  of  surpassing  beauty. 
He  sees  deep  into  the  heart  of  the  humble  cottager 
and  reads  his  longings,  as  from  an  open  book.  He 
listens  to  the  "still,  sad  music"  of  the  poor  and  in 
words  pulsing  with  tenderness  sings  of  their  simple 
life.  As  the  shell  of  the  sea  imprisons  the  murmur 
of  many  waters  and  gives  it  out  again  to  the  ear 
of  the  inland  traveler,  so  Burns  gathers  up  in 
trembling  lyrics  the  joys  and  woes  of  the  weary 
cottager,  and  gives  them  out  to  the  world.  Listen- 
ing, we  hear  the  throbbing  life  of  Scotland's  peas- 
antry, in  dreary  march  over  the  moorlands.  His 
passionate  words  are  read  wherever  the  warmth  of 
love  is  found.  His  heart  goes  out  in  universal  sym- 
pathy to  all  nature.  No  subject  is  too  insignificant 
for  his  use;  the  hare,  the  sheep  and  the  shivering 
cattle  suggest  to  him  the  most  subtle  thoughts  and 
tenderest  solicitude.  Nature  to  him  is  prophetic. 
In  the  hapless  fate  of  the  daisy  he  sees  his  own 
"no  distant  fate."  From  the  suffering  of  the  "wee, 
sleekit,  cow'rn,  tim'rous  beastie,"  he  draws  a  hu- 
man parallel: 

"The  best  laid  schemes  o'mice  an'  men 

Gang  aft  a-gley, 
An'  lea'e  us  nought  but  grief  an*  pain. 

For  promis'd  joy." 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  145 

To  him  there  is  an  answering  grief  in  the  howl 
of  the  tempest,  and  the  leafless  tree  reminds  him  of 
a  fate  that  resembles  his.  His  delicate  nature  is  an 
Aeolian  harp,  responsive  to  each  passing  breeze. 
If  the  chord  is  a  minor,  we  listen  with  quivering 
lips;  if  a  major,  we  spring  exultant  on  the  wings  of 
morning. 

The  supreme  message  of  Burns  is  the  freedom 
and  individual  worth  of  all  men.  His  dominant  tone 
is  humanity  and  every  note  is  a  challenge  to  tyran- 
ny and  oppression.  The  roar  of  the  American 
cannon  inspired  his  soul,  and  the  rumbling  storm 
of  the  French  revolution  filled  him  with  hope.  He 
desired  his  own  country  to  realize  the  brotherhood 
of  man.  In  this  he  was  Scotland's  first  prophet  of 
liberty  to  the  common  people.  When  the  peasantry 
were  dumb  and  heavy  with  care,  who  was  it  put  a 
song  of  freedom  on  their  lips?  Who  was  it  revealed 
to  them  their  worth,  and  told  them  that  "Princes 
and  lords  are  but  the  breath  of  kings?"  It  was 
Robert  Burns,  the  prince  of  cottagers;  Burns  who 
loved  a  peasant,  but  scorned  a  lord;  Burns  who  put 
a  gleam  of  light  into  the  soul  of  the  plowman,  and 
taught  him  that  he  could  be  happier  in  a  clay  cot 
than  in  a  palace.  Class  inequalities  did  violence 
to  his  spirit  of  justice.  In  church  as  in  state  he 
would  have  an  aristocracy  of  the  common  people. 
No  matter  what  the  station.  "A  man's  a  man  for 
a'  that"  This  is  the  message  of  Burns  to  the 
twentieth  century  hypocrisy:  what  a  man  is  counts 
for  more  than  what  he  seems.  The  supremacy  of 
true  worth  was  the  only  sovereignty  he  taught.  He 
had  a  passion  for  truth  and  honesty  in  civic  life  that 
would  put  to  shame  the  political  graft  of  any  age. 
With  him  manhood  makes  all  men  princes  and  lords; 
kingship  comes  with  a  reign  of  worth.  While  he  be- 
longed to  a  lower  class  he  saw  no  good  reason  why 


146  WINNING  ORATIONS 

he  should  not  belong  to  the  highest.  In  fact,  he 
saw  no  lowest.  Belted  Knight  and  lowly  peasant 
were  the  same;  they  were  men.  No  fanciful  dream 
of  his  ever  put  a  cottager  into  a  palace.  "Equality 
and  Fraternity"  in  state  were  no  abstract  subjects 
with  him;  they  were  facts  in  the  lives  of  men. 

His  life  is  like  a  mighty  sea.  About  the  shores 
are  lowland  marshes  with  noxious  vapors  rising. 
But  to  those  who  get  out  into  the  deep  there  is 
health  and  beauty;  there  is  wild  tumult  and  calm 
sea;  there  is  inspiration  and  grandeur;  aye.  "There 
is  music  in  all  things  if  men  had  ears."  The  Scot 
owes  his  appreciation  of  nature  to  the  poet,  for  he 
had  it  not  till  Burns  gave  it  him.  Burns  sang  the 
beauty  of  Scotland's  rills,  the  grandeur  of  her  crags, 
and  the  stories  of  her  heroes  that  he  might  arouse 
the  slumbering  spirit  of  his  countrymen.  He  caught 
from  Scotland's  past  the  fire  of  patriotism.  He  felt 
the  warrior  spirit  of  the  immortal  Bruce  at  Bannock- 
burn,  and  in  an  outburst  of  freedom  exclaims: 

"What  for  Scotland's  King  and  law 
Freedom's   sword   will   strongly   draw, 
Free-man  stand,  or  free-man  fa'  ; 
Caledonia  !   on    wi'    me  !" 

Scotland  was  called  to  life  again  by  Robert  Burns. 
Have  you  talked  with  a  Scotchman?  He  may 
disagree  with  you  on  religion;  he  may  be  an  oppo- 
nent in  politics;  but  mention  "Robbie  Burns"  and 
that  hard  mouth  will  break  into  ripply  smiles,  and 
that  stern  face  soften  with  sympathy  and  love. 
No  other  word  has  the  magic  of  it.  No  Homer  in 
literature,  no  Raphael  in  art,  no  Bismark  in  state- 
craft, no  Napoleon  in  warfare,  has  the  witchery  of 
that  simple  name.  England  is  inspired  by  her 
Shakespeare;  Germany  is  proud  of  Goethe;  and 
Italy  is  fired  by  the  name  of  Dante;  but  Scotland — 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  147 

Scotland  loves  her  Burns,  loves  him  because  he  first 
loved  her;  because  he  immortalized  the  beauty  of 
her  strong  life,  and  dignified  her  manhood.  Then 
all  honor  to  this  child  of  Scotland.  Worthy  is  he 
to  rest  in  lona,  the  burial  isle  of  Scotland's  kings; 
worthy  a  statue  of  bronze  in  the  temple  where  burn 
the  altar  fires  of  the  lowly.  Well  may  Scotland's 
peaks  pierce  the  clouds,  and  her  valleys  spread 
proudly  out,  for  each  cliff  and  vale  and  rill  sings 
some  melody  of  this  prince  of  peasants. 


NINETEENTH  CONTEST  (1906) 
MICHAEL  ANGELO 

(MISS  LOU  E.  MILES.  REDFIELD  COLLEGE) 


Would  you  know  the  true  meaning  of  an  age — 
what  it  stands  for  in  the  great  history  of  the  world's 
progress?  Then  find  it  in  her  greatest  man.  Read 
in  him  the  thoughts  and  feelings,  the  hopes  and 
fears  and  ideals,  the  religion  of  his  age.  Carlyle 
says,  "It  is  a  great  thing  for  a  nation  that  it  get 
an  articulate  voice;  that  it  produce  a  man  who  can 
speak  forth  melodiously  what  the  heart  of  it  means." 
Is  it  not  an  equally  great  thing  for  an  age?  Dante 
came  to  embody  in  divine  poetry,  the  religion  and 
inner  life  of  the  Middle  Ages.  In  him  ten  silent 
centuries  found  voice.  In  his  everlasting  music 
stand  the  thoughts  they  lived  by. 

With  the  stilling  of  his  voice  there  appeared 
the  first  faint  light  of  a  new  day.  The  Renaissance 
was  come,  with  its  intellectual  enthusiasm,  its  out- 
burst of  culture,  and  its  passion  for  antiquity.  How 
may  we  know  the  real  meaning  of  that  great  age? 
Is  there  no  voice  from  the  Renaissance — no  hero  to 
embody  in  some  enduring  art  its  very  soul?  Not 
Lorenzo,  with  his  magnificent  luxury,  splendid  re- 
finements, and  pagan  dissoluteness;  not  Pope  Leo  X, 
whose  name  is  given  to  that  golden  age  of  Rome; 
not  Savonarola,  the  Scourge  and  Seer;  but  the  one 
man  whose  vision  was  powerful  enough  to  grasp  the 
whole  meaning  of  the  age,  and  whose  universal 
genius  has  expressed  it  for  all  time:  "Michael 
Angelo,  towering  gigantic  above  all  other  Floren- 
tines, alone  in  his  grandeur,  before  whom  all  the 
ages  pause  and  tremble." 


150  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Would  you  justly  estimate  that  strangely  con- 
tradictory age?  Then  through  the  eyes  of  Michael 
Angelo  view  the  Renaissance.  He  saw  Italian  cities 
growing  more  magnificent;  scholarship,  art  and 
science  reaching  the  sublimest  heights;  reason 
liberated  from  its  fetters.  But,  with  his  clear  vision, 
do  you  not  discern,  beneath  the  splendid  refinement 
and  intellectual  awakening,  a  morass  of  wicked- 
ness? The  whole  nation  was  swept  along  by  a  great 
enthusiasm,  intoxicated  with  the  newness  of  life  and 
thought.  Their  claims  rested  so  lightly  upon  them 
that  they,  a  race  of  slaves,  gloried  in  the  name  of 
Republic.  You  know  the  history  of  their  rulers,  the 
history  of  crime  revenged  by  crime.  Men  played 
for  states  and  cities  as  a  man  plays  chess.  Italy 
was  a  vast  arena  and  only  those  could  hold  their 
own  who  were  gladiators  of  tried  capacity  and  iron 
nerve,  superior  to  all  religious  and  moral  scruples, 
perfected  in  the  use  of  cruelty  and  terror. 

The  individual  states,  grasping  for  power, 
wealth  and  territory,  vied  with  each  other  in  the 
embellishment  of  their  cities.  So  narrow  was  their 
patriotism  that  the  well  being  of  one  state  demanded 
the  destruction  of  the  rest.  Italy  was  not  an  or- 
ganism but  an  ingenious  mechanism,  artifically  held 
together  by  that  combination  of  fraud,  violence,  and 
subtle  wickedness,  called  statecraft. 

Yet  in  the  minds  of  a  few  there  had  ever  been 
a  dream  of  empire  and  a  United  Italy.  A  century 
before  the  visionary  Rienzi  sent  an  electric  thrill 
throughout  the  world.  He  dreamed  of  a  new  Rome 
with  a  Christian  soul.  He  would  lift  his  country 
from  degradation  and  save  her  from  ruin.;  He  failed 
and  Italy  purified  and  united,  was  still  an  impos- 
sible dream. 

Machiavelli,  statesman,  cynic,  philosopher 
grasped  the  idea  of  unity  as  the  hope  of  Italy.  He 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  151 

advocated  that  all  rivalries  must  cease,  the  church 
become  subordinate  to  the  state,  and  all  come  under 
the  power  of  one  prince.  Calmly,  philosophically, 
he  stated  that  fraud,  violence,  and  cold-blooded 
cruelty  were  the  proper  path  to  power.  The  cor- 
rupting influence  of  his  work  was  unbounded  but  his 
patriotic  dream  failed.  Italy  was  not  united. 

Another  soul  was  struggling  with  the  great 
problem.  The  spirit  of  prophecy  came  upon  him 
and  Savonarola  saw  a  foreign  host  sweeping  over 
Italy  and  the  streets  flowing  with  blood.  With  un- 
sparing hand  he  laid  bare  the  sins  of  pope  and 
people  and  inaugurated  the  greatest  spiritual  re- 
vival the  world  has  ever  known.  But  Jesus  Christ 
was  not  yet  king  of  Florence.  Another  name  was 
added  to  the  list  of  martyred  reformers.  The  rope 
and  fire  did  their  work  and  Savonarola  was  dead. 
He  too  had  failed  in  his  patriotic  dream,  because  he 
did  not  recognize  the  Renaissance  as  the  necessary 
highway  to  the  reformation. 

Fanatic,  statesman,  reformer,  all  had  failed  be- 
cause they  did  not  read  aright  the  meaning  of  the 
age.  Beneath  the  culture  and  the  corruption  was 
a  great  undercurrent  of  truth,  unperceived  by  Rienzi, 
Machiavelli,  Savonarola.  This  truth  found  voice  in 
Michael  Angelo. 

Of  noble  birth,  living  in  Lorenzo's  court,  he 
was  embued  with  enthusiasm  for  culture  and  the 
free  spirit  of  his  age.  There  opened  before  him  an 
horizon  far  beyond  the  dream  world  of  the  inspired 
monk.  But  with  a  vision  as  clear  as  that  of  Savona- 
rola he  saw  the  debauchery,  cruelty  and  corruption 
underlying  the  splendid  refinement  of  Lorenzo's 
court.  He  saw  his  loved  city  "lying  in  bonds;  nay, 
rather,  dancing  in  them,  with  the  smear  of  blood  upon 
her  garments  and  loathsome  songs  upon  her  lips.'* 


152  WINNING  ORATIONS 

He  was  not  an  enthusiast.  No  impossible 
dreams  of  empire  filled  his  mind.  He  was  not  a 
statesman  with  Michiavellian  cunning.  He  was  not 
a  preacher.  It  was  not  for  him  to  move  the  multi- 
tude with  his  warning  words,  "Repent,  repent,  while 
there  is  yet  time."  But  a  yearning  love  for  his  city 
possessed  him;  Florence,  with  the  Arno  flowing 
through  her  midst  and  the  hills  about  her  gray  with 
olive  groves;  Florence,  with  her  seventy  towers  en- 
circling her  like  a  queenly  diadem,  with  her  great 
dome  and  her  bell-towers,  her  cathedrals  and  palaces, 
her  scholars  and  artists  and  her  population  that 
was  cultivated,  refined  and  haughty.  The  city  of 
Dante,  Giotto,  Ghiberti,  Angelico,  Leonardo  and 
Savonarola.  She  would  be  the  queen  of  cities,  the 
center  of  the  world,  a  new  Jerusalem,  purified  and 
exalted. 

This  was  the  vision  that  possessed  him  and 
which  he  must  tell  to  the  people.  He  expressed  it 
in  the  most  universal  and  enduring  of  arts.  Forth 
from  the  unsightly  mass  of  marble  struggled  the 
figure  of  the  youthful  David,  getting  gradually  limb 
and  sinew  free  as  blow  after  blow  resounded  upon 
the  stone.  When  at  last  the  throes  were  over  and 
the  imprisoned  soul  was  free,  there  stood  before  the 
Palazzo  a  splendidly  proportioned,  gigantic  figure, 
Angelo's  ideal  of  a  youthful  hero  defending  his 
people  from  all  harm,  the  world's  ideal  through  all 
the  ages  of  a  kingly  king.  It  stood  for  a  people 
pure  and  exalted,  a  ruler  strong,  brave,  just.  Nay, 
more,  the  very  figure  was  instinct  with  freedom. 
We  may  read  in  its  calm  strength  and  dignity,  a 
prophecy  of  the  day  when  man  shall  know  the 
heighth  and  depth  and  breadth  of  the  word  liberty. 

There  spoke  the  truest  voice  of  the  Renaissance. 
Not  Machiavelli's  dream  of  empire,  not  Lorenzo's 
culture  and  magnificence,  not  Savonarola's  spiritual 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  153 

baptism,  was  the  real  message  of  the  age,  but  con- 
scious freedom  of  intellect  and  soul.  All  this 
Michael  Angelo  expressed  in  everlasting  marble. 

Italy  stood  astonished  at  his  genius.  Rome  was 
calling  him  to  help  adorn  the  chief  seat  of  the 
church.  The  Eternal  City,  crowned  with  the  relics 
of  a  pagan  past,  was  herself  a  pagan,  with  a  passion 
for  magnificence  and  a  dissoluteness  that  would  have 
astonished  the  parasites  of  Nero.  Here,  in  the  holy 
place  of  Christendom,  the  vicars  of  God  stood  at- 
tainted of  high  treason  against  civilization  and 
against  the  Christ  whose  representatives  they  dared 
to  style  themselves.  Holding  in  one  hand  the  con- 
science and  heart  of  humanity,  and  in  the  other  the 
keys  of  heaven  and  hell,  they  were  the  source  of 
the  poison  coursing  through  the  veins  of  Italy.  For 
the  adornment  of  chapels,  for  the  aggrandizement 
of  favorites,  they  rent  Italy  with  civil  wars,  they 
sold  bishoprics  and  indulgences,  they  plotted  mur- 
der, they  trafficked  in  the  lives  of  their  subjects  and 
the  holy  things  of  their  office,  and  they  still  thought 
to  wipe  out  their  own  sins  by  the  blood  of  the  in- 
quisition, they  still  hoped  to  exalt  the  church  by 
making  splendid  her  abode. 

Is  it  strange  that  the  spirit  of  the  old  Hebrew 
prophets  awoke  in  Michael  Angelo?  Here  on  the 
frescoes  of  the  Sistine  chapel  we  may  read  his  warn- 
ing cry  against  the  sins  of  his  time.  His  grand 
simplicity,  his  awful  earnestness  cried  out  against 
the  wild  enthusiasm,  the  wickedness,  the  degrada- 
tion of  that  pagan  city.  Because  he  speaks  today 
only  through  his  sculpture  and  painting  shall  we 
deny  him  a  place  in  the  world's  long  line  of  re- 
formers? He  saw  that  security  and  strength  for  his 
country  could  come  not  through  culture  and  learn- 
ing, not  through  statecraft,  not  through  religious 
fervor,  but  through  the  growth  of  the  ideals  of 


154  WINNING  ORATIONS 

liberty  and  purity.  Like  the  prophets  of  old  it  was 
his  mission  to  place  these  ideals  before  the  people 
and  his  life,  like  their's  was  a  life  of  sorrow. 

We  may  read  its  tragic  climax  in  the  tomb  of 
the  Medici,  a  monument  not  to  the  despotic  family, 
but  to  the  great  city  which  had  gone  astray  and  re- 
pented and  suffered  and  sinned  again  till  at  last  its 
glorious  career  had  ended.  Here  was  the  great  poem 
of  the  age,  the  utterance  of  a  mighty  soul  over- 
powered by  moral  sadness  but  compelled  to  return 
after  the  defeat  of  all  hopes  to  bear  the  burdens  of 
every  day.  Here  was  the  setting  forth  of  the  great 
tragedy  of  mankind,  a  mortal  struggle  with  anguish 
and  hopelessness,  fatigue  and  despair  of  soul.  Here 
was  written  in  majestic  sorrow  the  tragedy  of  the 
city  he  loved,  and  for  all  the  ages  that  followed 
those  emblematic  figures,  Twilight  and  Dawn,  Night 
and  Day,  have  watched  beside  her  ruins  in  melanch- 
oly splendor. 

Heavy  shadows  fall  upon  Michael  Angelo  who 
had  outlived  all  loves,  for  whom  all  life's  attractions 
are  swallowed  up  in  bitterness.  He  had  seen  his 
city  perish  through  her  love  for  luxury  and  pleasure. 
He  saw  his  people  slaves  to  the  basest  passions. 
In  his  prophetic  vision  he  saw  his  country  weakened, 
torn  asunder,  and  reduced  to  misery.  Italy!  the 
chosen  vessel  of  the  Renaissance  was  destined  to 
fall  victim  to  her  own  enthusiasm.  With  scorn 
and  grief  as  lofty  and  transcendent  as  his  love  had 
been,  with  silent  unappeasable  reprobation,  he 
placed  upon  the  tomb  of  Pope  Julius  II  the  stern 
figure  of  Moses,  rising  in  his  terrible  wrath,  to  cast 
down  the  tables  of  the  law;  a  final  protest  against 
the  corruption  that  had  destroyed  his  city  and 
menaced  his  country. 

"And  Moses  turned  and  came  down  from  the 
mount,  with  the  two  tables  of  the  testimony  in  his 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  155 

hands,  and  the  tables  were  the  work  of  God  and  the 
writing  was  the  writing  of  God  graven  upon  the 
tables. 

And  it  came  to  pass,  as  he  came  nigh  unto  the 
camp,  that  he  saw  the  Golden  Calf  and  the  dancing, 
and  Moses'  anger  waxed  hot  and  he  cast  the  tables 
out  of  his  hands  and  broke  them  beneath  the  mount." 
It  is  Michael  Angelo  himself  who  lives  in  that 
majestic  figure  of  Moses  and  forever  utters  his 
warning  cry  against  the  love  of  what  is  low  and  de- 
grading, the  worship  of  the  Golden  Calf.  Not  in 
vain  had  he  placed  before  the  people  his  visions  of 
free  and  exalted  manhood,  of  grand  and  earnest 
living.  Through  centuries  of  foreign  oppression 
and  shame  Italy  was  to  learn  the  lesson  he  had 
taught  till  at  last,  a  united  country  was  to  rise  from 
the  ruins,  with  individual  freedom  and  social  purity 
upon  her  banners. 

Would  you  know  the  true  meaning  of  Renais- 
sance?    Then  find  it  in  Michael  Angelo. 


NINETEENTH  CONTEST  (1906) 
SAXON  VERSUS  SLAV 

(RALPH  SHEARER,  DAKOTA  WESLEYAN 
Miss  Lou  E.  Miles,  Redfield  College,  won  the  State  Contest 
in  1906,  and  Ralph  Shearer,  Dakota  Wesleyan,  took  Second 
place.  In  the  Inter-State  contest  which  followed  these  two 
orations  were  reversed,  Shearer  taking  First  place  and  Miss 
Miles,  Second.  Therefore,  as  in  the  case  of  Rodee  and  Hubbard 
in  1899,  both  orations  are  given). 

At  each  stage  of  the  world's  progress  some 
section  of  the  globe  has  been  the  center  of  civiliza- 
tion. The  enlightenment  of  Babylon  grew  in  the 
valley  of  the  Euphrates,  the  culture  of  Greece  and 
Rome  fringed  the  Mediterranean,  and  the  civilization 
of  more  modern  times  encircled  the  Atlantic.  But 
the  present  era  presents  a  new  center  of  activity 
toward  which  two  great  races  have  been  moving  for 
centuries.  Four  hundred  years  ago  the  Saxon  landed 
on  our  Atlantic  coast,  and  began  a  march  westward 
across  the  continent.  He  has  pressed  forward 
courageously  over  dreary  plain  and  rugged  moun- 
tain until  now  he  stands  facing  the  Pacific.  In  the 
same  century,  on  the  sunny  plains  of  Moscow,  the 
Slavonic  nation  was  born.  Eastward  across  Siberia 
it  has  marched  ceaselessly,  persistently  eastward, 
until  the  full  surge  of  Slavonic  civilization  now  beats 
against  the  opposite  shore  of  the  Pacific.  Thus  the 
American  Saxon  rushing  westward  meets  the  Rus- 
sian slav  surging  eastward;  and  again  the  world 
sees  a  conflict  of  moving  civilized  centers.  The 
modern  era  awakes  to  find  that  the  peaceful  Pacific, 
by  a  "strange  irony  of  fate,"  is  the  field  of  com- 
mercial conflict,  the  storm  center  of  the  Twentieth 
Century. 

Never  in  the  history  of  nations  has  the  move- 
ment of  civilization  been  so  mighty  as  the  rush 
of  Saxon  and  Slav  to  possess  the  Pacific.  This  is  a 


158  WINNING  ORATIONS 

natural  consequence  of  the  forces  impelling  each  in 
its  outward  march.  The  present  century  is  an  age 
of  empires;  an  age  in  which  all  great  peoples  feel 
destined  to  work  out  their  peculiar  ideals  in  world 
movements.  It  is  but  natural  then  that  the  Twen- 
tieth Century  should  awake  to  find  the  sacred  prin- 
ciples of  Saxon  and  Slav  in  conflict.  To  comprehend 
the  magnitude  of  the  present  struggle  let  us  con- 
sider the  supreme  motives  of  these  races. 

Greed  for  material  power  is  the  ruling  passion 
of  the  Russian.  His  desire  to  realize  this  ambition 
is  increased  many  fold  by  the  sanction  it  receives 
from  the  Greek  Church.  This  institution  binds  to- 
gether the  conflicting  elements  of  the  empire  and 
inspires  the  people  to  spread  the  Slavonic  civiliza- 
tion. It  is  the  great  force  of  Russian  Nationality, 
the  power  which  for  centuries  has  maintained  the 
principles  of  expansion.  Russia,  as  the  exponent  of 
the  Greek  Church,  believes  she  is  commissioned 
under  God  to  dominate  the  world.  This  force,  at 
once  material  and  religious,  is  all  the  more  power- 
ful because  of  the  stubborn  and  dogged  character 
of  the  Russian  people.  For  thirteen  centuries  they 
have  held  their  position  against  the  current  of  shift- 
ing nations.  Goth,  Avar,  Bulgarian,  Mongol,  and 
Tartar  have  in  turn  swept  over  them,  but  they  have 
stood  unmoved,  grimly,  stubbornly,  holding  their 
ground;  and  in  all  the  tyrannical  rule  of  Russian 
history  the  Slav  has  never  ceased  to  worship  the 
despot  who  oppressed  him,  and  to  love  his  land  and 
church  with  a  passionate  ardor  unknown  to  Western 
peoples. 

This  ideal  of  expansion  is  apparent  in  all  Rus- 
sian history.  On  coming  to  the  throne,  Peter  the 
Great  found  his  domain  cut  off  from  all  connection 
with  the  sea.  But  he  dreamed  a  dream,  and  in  his 
vision  he  saw  the  boundaries  of  his  little  kingdom 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  159 

withdraw  westward  from  Moscow  until  the  flag  of 
Russia  waved  from  Gibraltar,  eastward  until  it 
floated  over  Siberia,  the  Bering  Sea,  and  southward 
until  it  was  planted  on  the  hills  of  China  and  Arabia. 
A  dream!  Yet  no  event  of  history  has  been  a  more 
powerful  factor  in  shaping  civilization.  It  was  a 
vision  of  the  conquest  of  Europe,  the  acquisition  of 
Asia,  the  domination  of  the  world.  Peter  planned 
his  policy  to  fit  his  dream.  He  defeated  Turk,  Tar- 
tar, and  Swede,  extending  the  boundary  of  his  em- 
pire southward  around  the  Black  Sea  and  northward 
to  the  Arctic  and  the  Baltic.  The  working  of  the 
ancient  vision  is  evident  in  all  the  later  history  of 
the  empire.  Under  its  activity  the  insignificant 
province  of  Moscow  has  grown  to  an  empire  stretch- 
ing across  one  hundred  and  seventy-two  degrees  of 
longitude,  six  thousand  miles  of  mountains  rich  in 
minerals,  forests  magnificent  in  their  expanse,  and 
fertile  plains  waiting  only  cultivation  to  yield 
bounteous  harvests.  It  is  a  mighty  nation  whose 
very  expanse  of  territory  defies  subjugation.  Defeat 
its  armies  and  they  withdraw  into  the  interior  only 
to  sally  forth  again  when  fully  prepared.  Invade 
its  territories  and  distance  and  climate  baffle  you; 
the  defeat  and  fate  of  Napoleon  await  you. 

However  much  it  may  seem  to  the  contrary, 
Russia's  strength  as  a  world  power  is  not  greatly 
changed  by  the  recent  Russo-Japanese  war.  Her 
advance  has  not  been  permanently  checked.  Before 
the  thunder  of  Rojestvensky's  cannon  had  ceased  to 
echo  along  the  shores  of  the  Japan  sea,  America 
proclaimed  jubilantly  that  "the  Slavonic  peril  is 
past."  But  have  we  read  Russian  history  in  vain? 
Have  we  so  soon  forgotten  the  dogged  persistency, 
the  zeal  and  fanaticism  of  the  Slav?  Have  we  for- 
gotten that  over  seven  centuries  ago  Russia  sent  an 
army  of  seventy  thousand  men  against  Constanti- 


160  WINNING  ORATIONS 

nople  to  conquer  the  Byzantine  Empire,  and  that 
what  she  then  began  she  has  never  abandoned?  Do 
we  not  remember  that  in  the  conquest  of  Samarkand 
she  held  to  her  purpose  for  more  than  two  centuries, 
sacrificing  six  great  armies  before  she  attained 
success?  Even  now,  she  leaves  her  peasants  to  hold 
Manchuria  and  the  northern  boundary  of  China  for 
the  beginning  of  a  later  and  more  determined  effort 
at  conquest.  The  treaty  of  Portsmouth  has  not 
lessened  Russia's  hunger  for  territory.  The  Slav, 
stubborn,  determined,  cruelly  patient,  is  still  a  for- 
midable power  in  the  East,  and  judging  from  the 
past  and  present,  we  must  conclude  that  though 
defeated  he  is  not  discouraged;  he  will  rise  again 
mightier  than  before. 

In  trying  to  open  a  harbor  on  the  Pacific,  Russia 
has  apparently  failed.  But  her  defeat  is  her  victory. 
The  autocratic  power  dominating  for  so  many 
centuries  is  at  last  yielding  to  the  popular  will. 
Russia  without  an  organized  revolution  is  passing 
from  monarchy  to  democracy  in  comparative  peace. 
This  is  significant.  A  revolution  usually  marks  the 
destruction  of  the  ideals  of  a  nation,  but  a  peace- 
ful popularization  of  government  indicates  the  trans- 
ference of  those  ideals  from  sovereign  to  citizen. 
These  social  changes  do  not  mean  that  the  ancient 
dream  of  Peter  is  dispelled,  nor  that  the  power  of 
the  Greek  Church  is  broken.  It  means  that  the 
vision  has  passed  from  the  exclusive  possession  of 
the  Czar  to  peasant  and  Cossack.  Hence  the  re- 
sponsibility for  Russian  domination  of  the  world 
rests  no  longer  upon  the  Czar,  but  upon  the  Russian 
people.  Thus  is  multiplied  a  thousandfold  the  power 
which  aims  to  thrust  the  Russian  boundary  over 
Asia. 

From  these  facts  of  history  we  see  that  greed 
for  territorial  expansion  inspired  by  the  Greek 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  161 

Church  is  the  basic  force  in  the  spread  of  the  Slav- 
onic domain.  But  what  does  Russia  want  today? 
She  wants  the  Pacific  for  her  commerce,  and  China 
for  her  religion.  To  impress  her  ideals  upon  the 
Chinaman,  to  keep  him  from  civilization  of  the  West, 
to  inject  into  the  Mongol  mind  the  ethical  principles 
of  the  Greek  Church,  to  save  him  in  the  centuries 
to  come  as  a  co-worker  of  the  Russian,  to  make  the 
Pacific  a  Slavonic  sea,  these  are  the  aims  of  the  Slav 
in  the  Orient.  Though  the  Russian  Bear  has  with- 
drawn into  the  north,  watch  him!  In  all  his  native 
strength  he  is  certain  to  come  forth  and  at  an  un- 
guarded moment  to  raid  again  the  sheepfolds  of 
China. 

Let  us  look  now  at  the  Saxon.  His  history 
reads  like  a  divine  epic.  He  has  grown  steadily  to- 
ward intellectual  and  spiritual  freedom.  Though  he 
has  made  marvelous  material  progress,  his  chief 
ambition  has  been  spiritual  rather  than  material. 
Early  in  the  Christian  era  a  wild  uncultured  people 
from  the  region  of  the  Baltic  Sea  crossed  the 
channel  and  conquered  England.  After  centuries  of 
wild  disorder,  dark  with  war  and  bitter  with  dis- 
content, Caesar  brought  the  Roman  law  and 
Augustine  the  Christian  religion.  These  became  the 
bond  of  the  Saxon  race.  Out  of  the  turmoil  of  the 
centuries  the  nation  came  "purified  as  by  fire." 
"Divine  right  of  kings"  was  lost,  individual  freedom 
gained.  These  principles  of  political  and  religious 
liberty,  implanted  upon  the  American  continent, 
brought  forth  a  nation  strong  and  virile,  the  cham- 
pion of  the  rights  of  the  individual,  the  exponent 
of  religious  freedom.  Under  these  ideals  the  Ameri- 
can nation  has  had  an  unparalleled  growth.  Yet  its 
great  ambition  is  not  expansion  of  territory  but 
the  expansion  of  the  eternal  rights  and  welfare  of 
its  people.  Greed  for  territory  has  not  been  the 


162  WINNING  ORATIONS 

ruling  passion  of  the  American  Saxon.  Under  di- 
vine guidance,  he  has  ever  sought  "a  way  that  will 
be  unto  immortality;  and  conquered  with  a  conquest 
unto  life." 

Review  briefly  the  forces  beginning  the  struggle 
for  mastery  of  the  Pacific.  Sullen  doggedness  faces 
confident  self-reliance.  Fanaticism  confronts 

rationalism.  Tyranny  opposes  liberty.  It  is  the 
clash  of  races,  the  struggle  of  religions,  the  contest 
of  civilizations.  Vast  territorial  possessions  are 
pitted  against  unlimited  resources;  the  strength  of 
a  political  aristocracy  against  the  genius  of  an  in- 
telligent people;  a  power  of  assimilation  which  en- 
abled the  Slav  to  digest  "a  hundred  tribes  and  na- 
tions" against  a  like  power  enabling  the  Saxon  to 
absorb  her  floods  of  foreign  immigrants  as  easily  as 
the  ocean  swallows  the  river  which  pours  into  it. 

America's  position  in  this  crisis  of  the  world  is 
strategic.  Hers  is  an  opportunity  unmatched  in 
history.  Yesterday  she  faced  the  Atlantic  and  the 
commerce  of  Europe;  today  she  faces  the  Pacific 
and  its  growing  activity.  Her  broad  western  coast 
affords  the  needed  harbors  for  commerce  and  naval 
operations.  Already  no  less  than  six  trans-contin- 
ental railroads  have  been  thrust  across  the  con- 
tinent from  east  to  west.  Merchantmen  and  battle- 
ships which  for  years  have  doubled  the  cape  now 
demand  the  shorter  route  across  the  Isthmus  of 
Panama.  America  is  turning  from  the  old  field  of 
European  commerce  to  the  rich  fields  of  the  Orient. 
But  above  the  call  of  commerce  comes  the  cry  of 
humanity  demanding  the  best  civilization  for  every 
people.  As  surely  as  Israel  was  led  from  Egypt  to 
the  promised  land,  so  surely  is  America  led  into 
the  Pacific  on  a  mission  for  mankind.  To  save  China 
from  Slavonic  civilization,  to  implant  upon  the  East 
the  institutions  of  the  West,  to  instil  into  the  Mon- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  163 

gol  mind  the  hope  of  the  Christian  faith  and  the 
morality  of  Western  ethics — these  are  the  supreme 
motives  impelling  the  Saxon  toward  the  Orient. 

What  then  means  the  possession  of  the  Pacific 
by  either  Slav  or  Saxon?  It  means  this;  the  yellow 
people  of  the  East  roused  from  their  sleep  of  cen- 
turies will  wake  to  a  full  political  and  religious 
freedom  or  to  a  political  and  religious  tyranny.  If 
they  wake  to  freedom  then  is  the  "yellow  peril" 
past,  but  if  they  wake  to  tyranny,  let  the  nations 
take  alarm.  It  means  that  the  Orient  and  the 
Islands  of  the  Sea  shall  be  thrown  open  to  the  lib- 
erty of  Western  religion,  or  be  closed  for  centuries 
and  taught  the  empty  forms  of  the  Greek  hypocrisy. 
It  means  an  Oriental  civilization  of  centuries  yet 
to  come,  fraught  with  the  spirit  of  commercial  and 
political  progress,  individual  freedom  and  universal 
love,  or  centuries  of  commercial  and  political  stag- 
nation, individual  slavery  and  universal  wrong. 

As  champions  of  Western  civilization,  we  are 
called  to  dominate  our  age  with  Christian  culture 
and  enlightenment.  It  lies  with  the  American  Saxon 
to  teach  the  Orient  the  full  meaning  of  freedom  and 
upward  striving.  The  magnitude  of  our  mission  is 
appalling,  but  we  dare  not  shirk  our  duty.  The 
stern  voice  of  God  calls  us  to  the  sober  work  of  our 
inheritance.  The  wail  of  Mongolia  joins  with  the 
cry  of  centuries,  beseeching  us  to  go  forth,  and  to 
conquer  in  the  name  of  the  eternal  principles  of 
liberty  and  justice. 


TWENTIETH  CONTEST  (1907) 
JOAN  OF  ARC 

(GEORGE  NORVELL.  DAKOTA  WESLEYAN) 

In  the  year  1412,  at  the  town  of  Domremy, 
France,  a  peasant  girl  was  born.  Nineteen  years 
later  a  charred  and  smoking  stake  in  the  Old  Mar- 
ket-place of  Rouen  proclaimed  her  death.  Within 
these  short  years  a  human  soul  had  matured, 
wrought  its  destiny,  and  left  its  mark  upon  the 
world's  history;  the  Divine  Spirit  had  inspired  to 
action;  human  injustice  had  condemned  to  martyr- 
dom. Within  that  brief  span  a  peasant  girl  had 
"broken  the  back  of  the  Hundred  years  War"  and 
revived  the  ebbing  life  of  a  nation;  and  that  nation 
had  burned  at  the  stake  her  saviour — Joan  of  Arc. 

Ideas,  not  kings,  have  ruled  the  past.  And 
among  those  ideas,  none  has  been  more  potent  in 
the  world's  development  than  the  conception  of  free- 
dom. It  overturns  thrones,  obliterates  empires, 
subdues  continents.  It  heralds  the  conflict  on  every 
great  battlefield.  It  leads  the  vanguard  in  every 
upward  movement.  Luther  sees  it,  the  Reformation 
results;  the  Pilgrim  Fathers  feel  its  power,  the 
mightiest  republic  of  history  is  born;  Christ  reveals 
it,  the  world  is  revolutionized.  It  was  the  vision  of 
freedom  that  filled  the  mind  of  Joan  of  Arc.  She 
may  not  have  been  aware  of  its  widest  significance, 
but  she  clearly  saw  its  application  to  national  life. 
She  may  not  have  dreamed  of  the  universal  freedom 
of  mind,  soul  and  body,  but  she  did  dream  of  a  free 
France. 

France  in  1429,  was  in  a  desperate  condition. 
A  hundred  years  of  continuous  fighting  had  reduced 


166  WINNING  ORATIONS 

her  to  the  last  extremity.  Her  fields  were  devas- 
tated, her  resources  exhausted  and  only  the  ter- 
ritory south  of  the  Loire  remained  faithful  to  the 
French  succession.  Civil  strife  had  almost  extin- 
guished patriotism.  Liberty  was  hung  on  gibbets. 
The  Dauphin,  Charles  VII,  weak  and  irresponsible, 
was  even  then  planning  a  flight  across  the  seas 
while  the  broken  chivalry  of  France  was  making  its 
last  stand  at  Orleans.  How  are  the  mighty  fallen! 
The  fairest  land  in  Europe,  prostrate!  Justice  in 
fetters!  Fear  supreme  upon  the  throne!  Every  hill 
and  valley  of  the  empire,  haunted  by  the  ghosts  of 
the  dead  past!  At  this  crisis  comes  the  liberator 
from  Domremy,  the  peasant  girl,  whose  genius  will 
break  the  fetters  which  bind  the  limbs  of  French 
Freedom. 

Joan  of  Arc,  by  nature,  was  modest,  gentle  and 
deeply  religious.  She  saw  the  hand  of  the  conqueror 
heavy  upon  her  countrymen,  and  she  longed  to  set 
them  free.  Oppressed  by  the  burden  of  a  mighty 
mission,  she  fasted,  prayed  and  agonized  in  the  soli- 
tude of  forests.  The  blood  of  Frenchmen  cried  to 
her  from  every  battle  ground  of  the  nation  and  her 
sympathetic  soul  was  fired  with  the  patriotic  zeal. 
In  the  "Holy  of  Holies"  of  the  Domremy  forest  she 
saw  visions  and  heard  voices  that  inspired  her  to  re- 
deem her  people.  Communing  with  the  invisible  she 
found  the  strength  to  meet  the  tasks  of  life  and 
destiny.  Directed  of  God,  armed  with  truth,  and 
guarded  by  angels  she  went  forth  to  sacrifice  her- 
self for  her  country. 

The  military  career  of  Joan  of  Arc  is  one  of  the 
most  amazing  recorded  in  history.  The  Hundred 
Years  War  had  called  forth  and  developed  all  the 
martial  greatness  of  the  nation,  but  no  general  had 
been  found  who  could  stay  the  tide  of  English  in- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  167 

vasion.  For  more  than  fifty  years  the  French  had 
been  defeated  in  every  important  battle.  And  then 
suddenly,  almost  miraculously  the  tables  are  turned. 
An  inexperienced  and  uneducated  girl  of  seventeen 
years  of  age  is  made  commander-in-chief  of  the  first 
army  she  has  ever  seen.  Taking  the  scattered  and 
disheartened  batallions,  she  forges  them  into  a 
thunder-bolt  that  shatters  with  one  blow  the  Eng- 
lish power  in  France.  Behold  Joan  in  her  initial 
campaign  of  seven  weeks!  Its  first  day  finds  her 
just  emerging  from  the  obscurity  of  shepherd  life; 
the  last  sees  her  clothed  in  glory,  with  a  "kingdom 
for  a  stage."  She  raised  the  seige  of  Orleans  in 
ten  days  when  surrender  seemed  inevitable  and 
afterwards  met  undaunted,  in  open  field,  the  great- 
est military  geniuses  of  the  age.  The  soldiers  of 
Talbot;  the  English  Lion,  fled  before  her  magic  en- 
sign as  "from  the  glance  of  Destiny."  The  victories 
of  Jargeau,  Meung,  Beaugency  and  Patay  followed 
each  other  in  rapid  succession  to  add  glory  to  her 
military  career. 

How  shall  we  estimate  the  services  of  the 
Heroine  of  France?  Shall  we  say  that  in  three 
months  she  reversed  the  fortunes  of  the  Hundred 
Years  War,  drove  out  the  conqueror,  established  the 
French  King  upon  his  throne,  and  made  France  a 
strong,  effective  nation?  Shall  we  say  that  she 
united  the  people,  restored  confidence,  and  infused 
the  spirit  of  patriotism  that  has  been  so  typical  of 
the  French  nation  for  the  last  450  years?  She  did 
this,  and  much  more.  Without  her,  where  had 
been  the  French  Revolution  which,  in  spite  of  its 
faults,  has  been  one  of  the  most  powerful  factors 
in  the  evolution  of  modern  governments?  Where, 
France's  contributions  to  science,  literature  and 
art?  And  what  would  be  our  situation,  citizens  of 


168  WINNING  ORATIONS 

America,  had  not  France,  Free  France,  appeared  at 
the  critical  moment  to  lend  aid  to  the  American 
colonies? 

But  personal  worth  is  more  than  achievement. 
Joan's  greatest  legacy  to  humanity  is  her  character. 
Her  noble  unselfishness  is  admirably  shown  by  an 
incident  that  occurred  just  after  the  coronation  at 
Rhiems.  She  was  then  at  the  midday  of  her  glory — 
honored  in  the  court,  worshipped  in  the  camp,  and 
everywhere  hailed  as  the  deliverer  of  France.  The 
grateful  king  offered  her  rewards  and  honors.  But 
she  would  take  nothing.  All  that  she  wished  was 
to  be  allowed  to  return  home  and  take  up  the  simple 
life  of  her  childhood.  Here  she  was  offered  all  that 
fame  and  power  can  give  yet  chose  the  obscurity 
of  a  peasant's  cottage,  rather  than  the  honors  of 
the  courts.  We  have  but  one  parallel  to  this  in 
history — when  our  own  beloved  Washington  retired 
to  private  life  at  the  close  of  the  Revolution,  and 
was  with  difficulty  induced  to  assume  the  responsi- 
bilities of  government.  Had  Joan  been  allowed  to 
retire  from  the  stage  of  action  at  this  time,  many  of 
her  noblest  qualities  would  have  remained  unre- 
vealed.  The  wasting  confinement  of  the  dungeon; 
the  treachery  of  friends;  the  cunning  cruelty  of 
foes;  the  slanders  of  false  witnesses;  the  villainy  of 
unrighteous  judges;  the  duplicity  of  priests;  the 
abandonment  by  people,  king  and  church,  which  to 
her  trusting  heart  seemed  all  but  a  conspiracy  of 
heaven  and  earth  against  her;  the  fiery  furnaces 
of  martyrdom;  all  these  must  be  endured  before  the 
world  could  know  her  true  greatness. 

"Her  character,"  says  Samuel  Clemens,  "is 
unique.  It  can  be  measured  by  the  standards  of 
all  times  without  misgiving  or  apprehension  as  to 
the  result."  Though  she  lived  in  one  of  the  blackest 
epoch's  of  history,  when  honor,  truth,  and  morality 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  169" 

were  scarcely  more  than  names,  her  life  was  so  pure 
and  true  and  noble,  that  it  challenges  admiration 
in  the  most  advanced  and  enlightened  age  of  the 
world.  She  combined  all  that  is  most  tender  and 
beautiful  in  woman,  with  what  is  most  admirable 
in  man.  And  whether  as  victorious  general,  court 
favorite,  or  prisoner  at  the  bar  she  was  ever  a 
modest  and  lovable  girl. 

See  how  she  compares  with  the  great  Captain, 
Napoleon.  Joan  and  Napoleon! — How  strange  a 
contrast!  Their  abilities  and  opportunities  were 
similar.  Both  were  brave,  both  possessed  the  sub- 
limest  fortitude,  both  had  military  genius,  and  both 
led  French  arms  to  brilliant  victories.  Here  the 
likeness  ends.  Joan  was  gentle,  meek  and  gen- 
erous. Napoleon  was  domineering,  conceited  and 
self -centered.  Joan  was  pure,  lovable  and  noble; 
Napoleon,  egoistic,  passionate  and  arrogant.  The 
master- passion  of  Joan's  life  was  self-sacrifice;  of 
Napoleon's — ambition.  She  toiled  for  the  peace  and 
prosperity  of  the  whole  country,  with  no  thought 
of  personal  gain;  Napoleon,  demanding  fame  and 
power  for  self,  "Waded  through  slaughter  to  a 
throne  and  shut  the  gates  of  mercy  on  mankind." 
But  eternal  justice  brought  him  to  St.  Helena.  His 
mighty  empire  was  shattered  into  fragments;  his 
fitful  dream  of  power  was  banished  in  a  night.  The 
peasant  girl's  work  of  sacrificial  love  still  blesses 
mankind.  She  who  was  once  condemned  as  a  witchr 
is  now  venerated  as  a  departed  saint. 

To  be  forsaken  by  those  we  love  is  the  death  of 
hope,  the  wormwood  of  sorrow,  the  crucifixion  of 
the  soul.  It  sears  as  a  red  hot  iron.  It  rankles  like 
poison.  Joan  met  imprisonment,  trial,  and  death 
without  a  single  voice  to  whisper  cheer.  Behold  her 
at  that  judicial  mockery  called  her  trial!  On  the 
one  side  are  deputies,  accusers  and  judges;  the 


170  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Church  Militant  in  triple-hatted  authority;  nuncios 
armed  with  writs  of  excommunication;  priests,  ab- 
bots and  bishops; — all  powers  temporal  and  ec- 
clesiastical; on  the  other  side, — the  lone  shepherd 
girl.  Throughout  the  infamous  proceeding  her 
purity,  gentleness  and  fortitude  shine  forth  with  in- 
creasing glory.  The  infamy  of  Judas  will  live  al- 
most as  long  as  the  sacrifice  of  Christ.  Beauvais' 
perjury  is  immortal  because  it  forms  a  background 
for  the  forgiving  love  of  Joan.  Among  those  men 
who  form  the  court  she  is  as  "  a  gleam  of  sunshine 
in  a  foul  den."  One  by  one  they  advance,  and  are 
transfixed  by  the  invincible  logic  of  truth.  Day 
after  day,  week  after  week,  month  after  month, 
this  young  girl,  alone  and  unaided,  meets  with  peer- 
less skill  every  trick  and  plot  the  villainy  of  Beau- 
vais can  invent.  But  her  enemies  demand  her  blood. 
The  sentence  must  be  pronounced.  The  witch  must 
be  burned. — At  last  the  travesty  is  ended.  The  in- 
nocent is  condemned  to  die. 

On  the  Wednesday  after  Trinity  Sunday,  1431, — 
in  the  glory  and  the  freshness  of  the  Spring, — Joan 
is  led  forth  to  death.  Guarded  by  800  spearmen, 
she  is  conducted  about  midday  to  the  place  of  exe- 
cution. One  cannot  move  freely  in  the  presence  of 
such  a  tragedy.  The  heart  sickens.  "The  soul 
grows  silent."  The  fury  of  the  soldiers  paralyzes 
us.  The  gentleness  of  the  martyr  melts  us.  The 
height  of  the  scaffold  awes.  The  eager  expectancy 
in  the  faces  of  the  surging  sea  of  humanity  terrifies. 
The  depth  of  human  brutality  amazes.  It  is  a 
repetition  of  the  tragedy  of  the  ages.  It  is  the 
death  of  a  saint.  As  she  stands  upon  the  lofty  pyre, 
knowing  that  she  is  soon  to  die,  she  utters  these 
words  of  profound  pity:  "Ah,  Rouen,  Rouen,  I  fear 
that  thou  wilt  have  to  suffer  for  my  death."  Even 
now  as  she  feels  for  the  first  time  that  she  is  utterly 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  171 

deserted,  when  the  agony  of  mortal  fear  has  seized 
her  and  the  black  curtains  of  death  are  closing  fast 
about  her;  even  in  this  moment,  her  whole  soul  goes 
forth  in  these  words  of  love,  pity  and  self -forgetful- 
ness.  Surely  it  will  not  seem  irreverent  to  say  that 
they  remind  me  of  the  words  of  Another  who 
perished  at  the  hands  of  those  he  came  to  save. 
As  they  sweep  through  my  mind  methinks  I  see 
the  frenzied  mob  in  Pilate's  judgment  hall,  the 
rugged  blood-stained  path  up  Golgotha,  the  cross, 
the  shame,  the  ignominy,  and  I  seem  to  hear  the 
scorned,  rejected  Galilean  say:  "Father  forgive  them 
for  they  know  not  what  they  do." 

To  perform  her  loving  service  for  her  country- 
men Joan  toiled  in  garments  dyed  in  blood;  for  this 
they  crowned  her  with  a  wreath  of  fire.  She  died 
for  them  and  they  defamed  her  memory.  But  today 
repentant  France  is  proud  to  own  her  child,  and 
gladly  honors  her  with  every  tribute  that  Esteem 
and  Love  can  offer.  They  talk  of  monuments!  She 
needs  not  these  to  speak  her  praises!  Her  deeds 
are  her  memorials,  and  her  mausoleum — the  heart 
of  humanity.  Time  will  obliterate  all  that  is  writ 
on  parchment  or  graved  in  marble,  but  in  the  cen- 
turies to  come,  Joan  of  Arc  will  receive  increasing 
homage,  for 

"Nothing:  can  cover  her  high  fame  but  heaven, 
No  pyramids  set  off  her  memories 
But  the  eternal  substance  of  her  greatness 
To  which  I  leave  her." 


THE  NEW  ORIENT 

(HOWARD  WARREN,  YANKTON  COLLEGE) 
(Again  in  1907,  the  First  and  the  Second  winning  orations 
in  the  State  Contest  were  reversed  by  the  judges  in  the  Inter- 
State  Contest.  In  the  State  contest,  Norvell,  of  Dakota 
Wesleyan,  ranked  First,  and  Warren,  of  Yankton  College, 
Second.  In  the  Inter-State,  they  were  reversed.  Both  orations 
are,  therefore,  given). 


Many  years  the  men  of  America  have  watched 
the  "March  of  Empire"  in  its  ever-westward  path. 
As  we  followed  its  course,  our  intense  patriotism 
led  us  to  ignore  what  lay  beyond.  We  considered 
the  Golden  Gate  the  limit  of  this  great  movement. 
We  thought  of  China;  in  the  old  days  that  mystical, 
magnificent  Cathay;  and  proudly  we  said,  "The  man 
of  the  East  was  the  beginning,  but  we  of  the  West 
are  the  culmination.  Behold,  this  mighty  march 
has  circled  the  world.  America  is  its  goal." 

But  at  the  dawning  of  a  new  century  the  con- 
viction is  slowly  being  forced  upon  us  that  the  "Star 
of  Empire"  is  not  as  we  had  considered  it.  Like  the 
stars  of  the  firmament  above,  it  knows  no  halting  in 
its  course,  but  steadily,  resistlessly,  swings  in  its 
unending  circle.  Past  the  barriers  of  the  Golden 
Gate;  out  across  the  wide  Pacific;  its  light  has 
traveled  on  till  it  has  awakened  the  men  of  Japan 
and  is  casting  its  first  gleams  on  the  turreted  pal- 
aces at  Peking. 

In  the  path  of  its  radiance  American  eyes  are 
opening  to  a  new  problem.  Some  national  mistakes 
are  standing  out  in  remorseless  prominence.  We 
are  beginning  to  see  that  we  have  not  sufficiently 
heeded  the  signs  of  the  times.  True,  while  it  suited 
our  hospitable  convenience  we  royally  entertained 
the  peace  ambassadors  of  Japan — and  won  the 
plaudits  of  the  world.  But  after  the  lime  light  was 
turned  away,  what  cared  we  for  the  men  of  the  Far 


174  WINNING  ORATIONS 

East?  One  of  our  states  proceeded  to  heap  affront 
upon  the  children  of  Japan.  We  made  more  strict 
our  bar  to  the  yellow  man.  With  twenty  millions 
starving  in  China,  we  continued  to  exact  unjust  pay- 
ments on  an  unjust  indemnity.  We  continued  our 
insults  to  Chinese  scholars  who  sought  admission  to 
America.  We  permitted  a  state  to  rise  in  her  sover- 
eign might  and  wrest  even  property  rights  from  the 
men  of  the  Far  East.  By  our  cool  carelessness  of 
Far  Eastern  feeling  we  continually  send  the  taunt 
across  the  Pacific:  What  are  you  going  to  do  about 
it?  Yes,  what  do  you  intend  to  do?  You  are  weak, 
and  we  are  strong,  you  are  poor  and  we  are  rich; 
what  recks  your  right  against  our  might? 

No  answering  defiance  has  been  flung  back. 
Hence  we  have  felt  we  were  dealing  with  a  de- 
cadent race.  We  have  counted  the  Oriental  no  more 
than  half  a  man.  And  here  has  been  our  mistake. 
For  among  the  Manchurian  hills  the  Japanese 
proved  himself  before  all  the  world  every  inch  a 
man.  From  the  plains  of  China,  low,  insistent,  more 
and  more  clear,  is  coming  the  answering  voice  of 
his  brother  asking  for  justice  by  right  of  the  man 
he  is,  pleading  for  brotherhood  by  virtue  of  the 
mighty  force  he  will  become.  And  today  we  are 
confronted  with  the  stern  duty  of  correcting  our 
error,  and  recognizing  that  we  are  dealing  with  men, 
millions  of  awakening  men,  who  deserve  all  the 
justice  and  rights  of  brotherhood  that  characterize 
American  liberty. 

We  have  underestimated  the  Mongolian  intellect. 
Because  Pacific  coast  coolies  were  universally  igno- 
rant, we  have  supposed  the  Chinaman  universally 
ignorant.  Yet  the  very  foundation  of  China's  politi- 
cal system  is  on  an  educational  basis  that  puts  to 
shame  the  meager  qualifications  we  ask  of  our  of- 
ficials. The  Chinese  Mandarin  is  a  scholar,  having 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  175 

stored  in  his  capacious  memory  Chinese  law  and  the 
lore  of  Celestial  prophets  to  a  degree  that  is  start- 
ling to  the  Occidental  mind.  He  does  not  lack  men- 
tal power;  he  lacks  only  modern  training.  "He  sits 
in  his  ancestral  halls  with  his  head  in  the  realms 
of  the  ancient  Sung  dynasty  and  his  feet  upon  the 
present." 

Will  he  sit  thus  forever?  Will  there  be  no 
awakening?  Truly  the  peace  of  the  world  were 
safer  if  he  should  dream  on,  in  his  intellectual  cloud- 
land!  For  when  he  becomes  willing  to  study  the 
coal  fields  of  Honan,  instead  of  musing  on  the 
flowering  fields  through  which  Confucius  walked; 
when  he  begins  to  consider  building  factories  and 
smelters  in  Tongking,  instead  of  rebuilding  in  fancy 
that  ancient  paradise  where  Mencius  taught;  in 
short,  when  the  Chinese  Mandarin  and  Literatus 
begins  to  think  in  modern  terms  instead  of  pre- 
historic, there  will  be  born  on  earth  a  mighty  intel- 
lectual force.  A  new  power  will  threaten  the  na- 
tions with  turmoil.  The  destiny  of  Asia  will  lie  in 
the  hollow  of  her  hand.  She  will  make  and  unmake 
the  economic  future  of  the  Far  East. 

The  yellow  man  has  other  ominous  character- 
istics. His  peculiar  intellect  has  a  background  of 
marvelous  physical  vitality.  Drought,  pestilence, 
flood  and  famine;  rebellion,  invasion,  and  massacre; 
that  arch-destroyer,  opium;  all  these  work  their 
fearful  havoc.  Yet  every  square  mile  of  China  teems 
with  people.  Furthermore,  the  Mongolian  possesses 
adaptability.  And  what  quality  means  more  for 
racial  success?  Place  him  where  you  will,  and  he 
is  a  unit  with  his  surroundings.  In  tropic  heat,  or 
Arctic  cold;  in  Central  American  swamps  or  on 
Rocky  Mountain  plateaus,  wherever,  whenever,  how- 
ever you  meet  him,  he  is  the  embodiment  of  smiling 
content.  He  drops  placidly  into  any  environment 


176  WINNING  ORATIONS 

with  such  ease  and  completeness  that  no  laborer  on 
earth  can  compete  with  him. 

However,  it  is  not  solely  because  the  Chinaman 
possesses  those  qualities  making  for  economic  suc- 
cess that  America  must  heed  the  Far  Eastern  ques- 
tion. We  have  other  and  more  potent,  reasons  for 
looking  across  the  Pacific  with  apprehension. 

In  northern  China,  where  the  great  wall  extends 
as  far  as  eye  can  see  over  the  sandy  wastes  of 
Shengking,  a  break  can  be  seen  in  its  battlements. 
For  a  hundred  yards  this  ancient  rampart  has  been 
razed  to  the  earth.  The  massive  brickwork  that 
had  rested  undisturbed  for  a  hundred  generations 
has  been  torn  away;  and  through  this  gap  the  winds 
blow  alien  sands  upon  China's  sacred  soil.  More 
significant  still,  through  the  breach  stretches  a  mod- 
ern steel  trestle  over  which  daily  rush  the  mogul 
engines  of  the  Northern  Imperial  Railway,  awaken- 
ing echoing  thunders  among  the  ruined  pagodas  that 
crown  the  grass-covered  wall. 

The  scene  is  mutely  prophetic.  Just  as  this 
monument  to  the  ancient  traditions  of  the  Celestial 
Empire  has  been  ruthlessly  torn  asunder  to  meet 
the  imperative  demands  of  modern  commerce,  so 
are  Chinese  walls  of  conservatism  being  disrupted 
by  the  onward  march  of  civilization.  The  roar  of 
passing  trains  echoes  through  the  corridors  of  the 
imperial  palace  at  Peking.  The  desecrating  bustle 
of  modern  business  is  resounding  through  the  half- 
ruined  temples  of  Tien-tsin.  The  Occident  is  tear- 
ing its  way  into  the  Orient. 

From  Manchuria  on  the  north,  to  Yunnan  on 
the  south;  from  Hongkong  on  the  east,  to  Tibet  on 
the  west,  rumor  comes  of  a  muttering  and  stirring 
among  the  sleeping  peoples.  Every  traveler  who 
disembarks  at  San  Francisco  brings  the  same  tale. 
The  Chinamen  are  opening  their  eyes  to  the  victory 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  177 

of  the  new  over  the  old.  They  can  see  that  the 
alert  foreigner  makes  the  sandy  deserts  of  Shansi 
a  highway  to  riches  yearly  paved  with  a  hundred 
thousand  tons  of  coal.  They  can  see  that  where 
they  scraped  a  pound  of  copper  from  the  mines  of 
Yunnan,  his  steam  cranes  are  swinging  out  millions. 

Nor  does  western  education  lag  behind  modern 
commerce.  The  keen,  practical  text-books  of  Oc- 
cidental science  are  already  contending  on  an  equal 
footing  with  the  worn  parchments  of  Confucian 
philosophy.  Who  doubts  where  the  victory  will  be? 
Even  now  the  Chinese  Literati  are  abandoning  the 
ancient  examination  booths  for  the  colleges  of 
Europe  and  America.  And,  as  they  return,  they  are 
carrying  back  all  the  spirit  that  makes  western 
nations  great.  They  are  the  vanguard  in  that  fast- 
forming  army  of  newly  enlightened  men,  who  are 
to  storm  the  strongholds  of  Chinese  conservatism 
and  revolutionize  her  government  policies,  her 
ideals,  and  her  very  religion. 

And  during  the  last  two  years  has  not  the  yel- 
low man  mused  deeply  over  another  matter?  For 
did  not  his  marveling  gaze  follow  his  brethren  of 
the  Orient  as  they  swept  over  the  battalions  of  the 
Occident?  Did  he  not  see  the  Japanese  wrest  Port 
Arthur  from  Russia? — and  drive  the  Czar's  columns 
back— back  till  even  Mukden  floated  the  Mikado's 
flag,  and  the  pride  of  Russian  arms  lay  prostrate  in 
the  dust? 

But  the  story  of  the  east  is  not  yet  complete. 
Another  mighty  influence  is  at  work.  There  is  no 
more  potent  force  in  the  Orient  today  than  the 
Christian  missionary.  He  has  gone  up  and  down  the 
provinces  carrying  news  of  the  Redeemer,  and  at 
the  same  time  healing  the  sick,  bringing  comfort 
to  the  dying,  and  teaching  the  living  how  to  better 
use  their  lives.  Since  this  century  began,  returns 


178  WINNING  ORATIONS 

of  thirty  and  fifty-fold  are  becoming  an  hundred- 
fold. The  thousands  of  Christian  martyrs  have  not 
died  in  vain.  I  do  not  wish  to  belittle  other  agencies. 
The  financier  has  shown  China  the  wonders  of  mod- 
ern commerce.  Western  arts  and  sciences  have 
opened  undreamed  realms  of  thought.  The  sword 
of  the  Mikado's  soldier  has  hewed  her  a  path  to 
better  things.  But  transcending  all  forces  stands 
the  cross  of  Christ. 

In  interpreting  these  signs  of  the  times  we  can 
come  to  but  one  conclusion.  This  country  is  going 
to  see  a  new  power  unleashed  upon  the  world. 
There  it  looms  on  the  eastern  horizon.  The  sky  is 
yet  clear.  We  have  naught  but  the  warning  mut- 
tering as  of  distant  thunder.  Do  those  slowly  ris- 
ing clouds  mean  added  prosperity  to  the  nations,  as 
the  quiet  summer  rain  means  blessing  to  the  fields? 
Or  do  they  mean  storm  and  turmoil?  Tumult  and 
destruction? 

This  is  a  problem,  not  of  tomorrow,  but  of  to- 
day. The  hour  of  change  is  already  upon  us.  The 
drama  of  the  Far  East  is  no  longer  to  be  played  by 
England  and  Russia.  Japan  is  already  upon  the 
stage.  China  soon  will  enter.  The  intellectual 
force  of  her  people,  their  physical  vitality,  and 
adaptability  warn  us  that  she  will  play  a  marvelous 
part  in  the  twentieth  century. 

Let  it  be  no  tragedy  for  America.  Today  in 
Tokyo  the  American  is  eyed  askance.  In  Peking 
too  often  is  he  jeered.  It  is  to  our  shame  that  there 
is  reason  for  such  treatment.  Too  long  have  we 
meted  out  injustice  to  the  men  of  the  Orient.  Too 
long  have  we  given  the  lie  to  the  precepts  of  our 
missionaries.  Our  material  interests,  our  claim  as 
a  power  making  for  righteousness,  demand  of  us  a 
better,  truer  attitude.  Let  us  act  with  such  fair- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  179 

ness  that  when,  in  turmoil  and  revolution,  the  Far 
East  finds  its  traditions  tumbling  about  its  ears, 
when  naught  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  seems 
firm  on  its  base,  the  new  Orient  will  turn  toward  the 
west  and  see  its  future  hope  in  the  justice  and 
brotherhood  that  are  the  principles  of  American 
freedom. 

When  Bartholdi  fashioned  that  colossal  Goddess 
of  Liberty  that  eternally  looks  out  from  the  harbor 
of  New  York,  what  did  he  mean?  Why  do  those 
eyes  forever  gaze  over  the  stormy  Atlantic?  Does 
her  uplifted  beacon  light  show  only  to  a  Porto  Rico 
the  justice  and  brotherhood  that  are  the  boons  of 
liberty?  Does  she  lavish  the  gifts  of  freedom  only 
upon  a  Cuba,  till  with  every  passing  political  storm 
she  turns  to  America  as  her  trusted  protector?  If 
this  Goddess  of  American  Liberty  only  lights  to  the 
blessings  of  freedom  coasts  washed  by  the  Atlantic, 
let  us  find  another  Bartholdi.  Let  us  show  him  the 
Golden  Gate  and  the  serene  Pacific.  Let  us  say 
to  him,  "Cast  for  us  a  mighty  statue,  greater  far 
than  any  other.  Fashion  a  more  magnificent  God- 
dess of  Liberty.  Put  in  her  left  hand  the  scales  of 
justice,  in  her  right  the  cross  of  Christian  brother- 
hood. Upon  this  cross  write,  in  blazing  letters  of 
gold,  America's  pledge,  that  all  the  Orient  may 
read: 

'Mongol  or  Anglo-Saxon,  every  race 

Is  but  a  unit  in  a  universe 

And  brotherhood  shall  circle  round  the  world.'  " 


TWENTY-FIRST  CONTEST  (1908) 
AMERICA'S  GREATEST  PROBLEM 

(JOHN  DOBSON,  DAKOTA  WESLEYAN) 


The  worth  of  a  civilization  is  never  greater 
than  the  worth  of  the  man  at  its  center.  The 
standard  of  a  nation  can  rise  no  higher  than  the 
standard  of  its  citizenship.  To  furnish  to  all  its 
citizens,  irrespective  of  race  or  color,  the  conditions 
whereby  they  may  attain  unto  the  highest  standard 
of  the  individual,  is  the  chiefest  function  of  a  great 
race-embracing  government  like  our  own.  To  fail 
in  this  vital  duty  toward  any  considerable  portion 
of  our  citizens  is  to  fall  short  of  the  high  destiny 
to  which  America  is  appointed. 

Already  America  has  been  the  arena  of  mighty 
conflicts.  Here  world  forces  have  clashed.  Here 
great  principles  have  been  tested  and  weighty  prob- 
lems solved.  Here  for  two  hundred  years  the  forces 
of  Oligarchy  and  Democracy  had  full  play.  Then  in 
the  hey-day  of  their  glory  they  met  in  deadly  con- 
flict. Northern  Democracy  triumphed;  Southern 
Oligarchy  was  overthrown.  Slavery,  the  great  ob- 
ject of  attack  and  defense,  was  destroyed.  This 
decisive  conflict  solved  a  great  problem,  but  by  the 
very  nature  of  its  purpose  created  a  greater  one. 
To  make  four  million  slaves  free  men  is  a  worthy 
task;  to  make  these  free  men — now  numbering  ten 
million  souls — industrious,  intelligent,  progressive, 
patriotic  citizens,  is  a  worthier  task.  This  is 
America's  great  problem. 

It  involves  the  just  co-ordination  of  two  races 
under  principles  and  institutions  that  are  the  flower- 
ing of  the  highest  political  consciousness  of  man- 
kind;— the  one  race  but  a  few  generations  out  of 
savagery,  the  other  the  proud  exponent  of  a  civil- 


182  WINNING  ORATIONS 

ization  that  is  the  very  consummation  of  the  Divine 
purpose  wrought  out  through  twenty  centuries  of 
human  progress.  On  the  borders  of  life,  where  the 
baser  elements  of  these  races  mingle,  there  will  be 
many  a  virulent  phase;  but  it  should  be  proclaimed 
above  all  the  din  of  meaner  striving  that  the  better 
heart  of  the  two  races  beats  alike  to  the  deeper 
cadences  of  the  Constitution  and  the  spirit  of  true 
Americanism. 

Is  it  strange  that  the  negro,  upon  coming  out  of 
two  hundred  and  fifty  years  of  slavery,  should  be 
dazzled  by  the  glare  of  the  broad  noon-day  of  liberty 
and  citizenship  into  which  he  found  himself  thrust 
by  the  War  of  the  Rebellion  and  the  amendments  to 
the  Constitution?  Is  it  strange  that  he  did  not 
realize  what  it  meant,  and  all  that  it  meant?  His  full 
awakening  and  his  permanent  advancement  can  be 
only  by  the  unhurried  processes  of  race  development. 

The  first  problem  in  the  life  of  any  people  is 
largely  physical  and  must  be  solved  by  labor.  This 
is  the  natural  order;  this  is  the  historic  order.  Labor 
is  a  basic  element  in  the  development  of  individuals 
and  of  races.  Despisers  of  toil  are  never  builders 
of  nations.  This  is  the  secret  of  America's  great- 
ness— an  ancestry  of  toilers;  men  to  whom  industry 
was  a  creed,  muscles  a  virtue,  toil  a  religion.  From 
men  of  this  vigorous  fibre  has  sprung  a  race  whose 
industrial  achievement  have  no  parallel  in  history. 
The  development  of  this  country  from  sea  to  sea, 
and  from  gulf  to  lakes,  is,  in  its  daring  genius 
and  its  conquering  energy,  industry's  sublimest  epic. 
Industrial  independence  must  be  the  first  condi- 
tion for  the  permanent  elevation  of  the  negro  in 
America.  Servitude  had  taught  him  one  great 
lesson — that  of  toil.  But  with  freedom  came  a 
terrible  reaction.  To  the  negro,  slavery  was  the 
sum  of  all  villainies,  the  root  of  all  evil,  the  cause 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  183 

of  all  prejudice.  In  his  simple  and  lowly  prayer 
swelled  one  mighty  supplication — liberty!  At  last 
it  came,  bewildering — maddening  even,  in  its 
strangeness  and  its  ecstacy.  In  the  wild  carnival  of 
freedom  that  followed  all  restraints  were  cast  aside. 
Labor,  that  had  become  to  the  negro  the  badge  of 
servitude,  was  now  a  thing  of  the  past.  Peace,  rest 
from  toil,  unrestrained  enjoyment  of  the  best  things 
in  a  free  and  bounteous  land,  were  to  be  his  forever. 
How  unbounded  the  faith  of  that  simple  ignorance; 
how  deep  the  disappointment  of  that  lowly  people; 
how  awful  the  realization  of  what  it  meant  to  be 
poor  and  black  and  ignorant  in  a  land  where  money 
was  master  and  Caucasian,  King. 

Years  have  passed  since  then.  The  old  gener- 
ation, skilled  in  the  school  of  slavery,  is  no  more.  A 
new  generation  has  come — a  generation  of  unskilled 
toilers.  To  teach  them  the  art  of  labor,  that  art 
which  conquers  the  forces  of  nature  and  redeems 
toil  from  it's  drudgery — this  must  be  the  first  step 
in  the  solution  of  the  negro  problem.  In  a  material 
sense  the  South  is  still  an  undeveloped  country,  Mani- 
fold possibilities  lie  open  to  the  negro  on  every  hand. 
Here  is  the  opportunity  which  unimproved  may  never 
be  his  again.  The  present  generation  of  colored 
people  in  America  must  largely  determine  whether 
the  negro  is  to  occupy  the  high  and  manly  vantage- 
ground  of  industrial  independence,  or  whether  he  is 
to  degenerate  into  the  mere  ward  and  drudge  of  the 
white  race. 

Nothing  will  more  rapidly  bring  about  right  re- 
lations between  the  two  races  than  the  commercial 
progress  of  the  negro.  Trade,  commerce,  is  ever  the 
forerunner  of  wholesome  and  friendly  relations  be- 
tween races  and  nations.  If  the  negro  rises  to  the 
full  measure  of  his  presen  t  industrial  opportunity, 
he  can  make  himself  such  a  factor  in  the  life  of  the 


184  WINNING  ORATIONS 

South  that  he  will  not  have  to  seek  privileges,  they 
will  be  freely  conferred  upon  him;  and  he  shall 
leave  to  coming  generations  of  black  men  the  price- 
less heritage  of  equal  opportunity  to  all  that  is  best 
in  the  life  of  our  Republic. 

But  the  ultimate  forces  in  race  development  are 
spiritual.  Mental  strength  and  moral  fibre  deter- 
mine finally  the  place  of  individuals  and  of  races. 
The  nation  that  poured  out  billions  of  treasure  and 
the  costlier  blood  of  her  sons  to  free  her  slaves  dare 
not  stop  short  of  their  full  enfranchisement  through 
the  freedom  of  knowledge  and  of  culture.  Skilled 
hands,  disciplined  minds,  enlightened  hearts, — these 
are  the  conquering  triad  in  race  progress  and  race 
emancipation. 

The  negro  in  America  faces  as  stern  a  problem 
as  ever  confronted  any  race.  Consider  the  situa- 
tion: they  are  surrounded  by  the  strongest  race  of 
men  on  the  globe;  a  race  that  has  mastered  every 
other  people  that  has  dared  to  look  it  in  the  face; 
a  race  that  leads  the  world  in  industry  and  com- 
merce; a  race  whose  genius  for  the  gigantic,  in  enter- 
prise and  achievements,  is  the  marvel  of  history. 
This  is  the  race  with  which  the  negro  must  struggle 
hand  to  hand,  brain  to  brain,  in  working  out  his  own 
destiny. 

Facing  such  conditions,  his  supreme  need  is  for 
leaders — educated  men;  men  who  know  the  strug- 
gles of  oppressed  people  toward  light  and  liberty 
in  the  past;  men  who  have  faith  in  the  Providence 
that  works  through  all  ages;  men  of  courage,  men 
of  ideals,  men  of  vision,  who  can  give  to  the  mil- 
lions of  their  race  inspiration,  ambition,  hope;  men 
who  can  lead  these  millions  into  their  highest  life 
and  their  noblest  estate  as  worthy  citizens  of  a  great 
Republic.  And  these  elect  sons  of  the  race,  who 
are  to  lead  in  its  full  emancipation,  must  come  not 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  185 

from  the  fields  or  the  workshops,  not  from  the 
preparatory  or  industrial  schools,  but  from  the  col- 
leges and  universities.  Call  the  roll  of  the  spiritual 
emancipators  of  men,  and  Paul  answers  frqm  the 
School  of  Gamaliel,  Luther  from  the  University  of 
Wittenberg,  Huss  from  the  University  of  Prague, 
Calvin  from  the  University  of  Geneva,  Wycliff  and 
Wesley  from  the  classic  halls  of  Oxford.  Higher 
education  alone  can  give  to  the  negro  race  its  trained 
leadership  and  its  true  enfranchisement  among  men. 

This  problem,  however,  is  not  merely  racial;  it 
is  national.  Its  solution  involves  not  only  the  wel- 
fare of  the  negro,  but  the  future  of  a  Republic.  The 
black  man  is  a  constitutional  factor  of  this  Republic, 
and  with  him  we  stand  or  fall.  The  negroes  con- 
stitute one  third  of  the  population  of  the  South. 
They  hold  more  than  one-third  of  her  destiny  in 
their  black  hands.  What  the  negro  does  for  the 
South  depends  very  largely  on  what  the  South  does 
for  the  negro.  She  may  make  of  him  the  black 
diamond  in  the  coronet  of  her  intelligence  and  glory, 
or  the  thundercloud  that  will  some  day  break  in  a 
storm  of  anarchy  upon  her  head.  There  is  no  escape 
from  the  law  of  retributive  justice.  The  ever-in- 
creasing hosts  of  black  citizens  will  be  a  mighty 
factor  in  the  progress  and  prosperity  of  this  Repub- 
lic, or  they  will  prove  a  veritable  body  of  death,  re- 
tarding every  movement  to  national  power  and  glory. 

The  twentieth  century  is  to  prove  the  crucial 
century  in  world  history.  Yonder  on  the  Pacific 
the  world  forces  are  gathering  for  a  last  great  con- 
test of  civilizations.  Occident  faces  Orient.  The 
exultant  spirit  of  the  new  world  confronts  the  sullen 
persistence  of  the  old.  The  light  and  liberty  of  the 
Christian  faith  stand  over  against  the  superstition 
and  tyranny  of  old  world  beliefs.  It  is  the  grapple 
of  civilizations — the  conflict  of  the  century;  the  re- 


186  WINNING  ORATIONS 

suit  of  which  must  be  the  turning  back  of  the  forces 
of  liberty  and  enlightenment,  or  the  final  supremacy 
of  Christian  civilization  upon  the  earth. 

The  events  of  a  single  decade  have  thrust 
America  out  into  strategic  position  upon  the  seas, 
and  mark  her  as  the  determining  force  in  this  world 
conflict.  But  if  America  is  to  lead;  if  she  is  to  prove 
the  invincible  standard  bearer  of  Christian  civiliza- 
tion, she  must  work  out  upon  her  own  soil  the  full 
vindication  of  the  principles  of  justice  and  liberty 
for  which  she  stands  among  the  nations.  She  cannot 
fall  short  of  her  duty  to  the  black  man  within  her 
borders,  if  she  is  to  fulfill  her  mission  to  the  yellow 
man  across  the  seas.  She  must  front  the  crisis  of 
the  century  with  unbroken  solidarity  of  national 
life,  her  citizens,  black  and  white,  exultant  in  the 
liberty  and  privilege  of  citizenship  in  a  great  Re- 
public. Her  national  consistency  must  be  the  mea- 
sure of  her  world  prestige  and  potency. 

We  have  faith  in  America.  We  have  faith  that 
the  genius  of  her  free  institutions  and  the  high- 
minded  statesmanship  of  her  loyal  sons  will  work 
out  a  righteous  adjustment  of  her  great  problem, 
until  the  negro  shall  be  no  longer  an  extraneous  and 
threatening  element  in  the  body  politic,  but  a  com- 
ponent and  worthy  factor  of  her  national  life.  We 
have  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  true  Ameri- 
canism. We  have  faith  in  that  spirit  of  exultant 
Democracy  that  has  made  the  common  people  of 
America  greatest  among  the  peoples  of  the  earth, 
and  that  will  as  certainly  elevate  the  negro  in 
America,  enriched  by  industry  and  ennobled  by  edu- 
cation, to  his  true  place  among  the  races  of  man- 
kind. Then  shall  the  sable  hosts  of  her  redeemed 
citizens  wake  the  cane-brakes  of  this  old  world  to 
a  new  song,  in  triumphant  acclaim  to  America's 
accomplished  mission,  and  Columbia's  exalted  name. 


TWENTY-SECOND  CONTEST  (1909) 
OUR  PACIFIC  OUTLOOK 

(JAMES    DOBSON,    DAKOTA   WESLEYAN) 


The  present  century  is  to  prove  the  crucial 
century  in  history.  The  bugle  call  of  world-domi- 
nation is  summoning'  the  forces  to  contest.  The  re- 
sistless logic  of  events  has  already  determined  the 
scene  of  action.  The  peaceful  Pacific,  its  waters 
stirred  by  the  approach  of  world  conflict,  has  become 
the  storm-centre  of  the  twentieth  century. 

In  the  chain  of  events  that  mark  the  onward 
progress  of  the  race,  the  exploitation  of  the  Pacific 
is  the  culminating  one.  This  will  be  the  final  chap- 
ter in  the  gospel  of  expansion;  the  climax  in  God's 
appointed  drama  of  progress.  More  than  five  hun- 
dred million  people  already  live  in  the  Pacific  basin. 
But  the  lands  bordering  on  the  new  Mediterranean 
have  resources  sufficient  to  support  a  population 
equal  to  four  times  the  people  upon  our  globe.  Here 
is  the  potential  wealth  of  the  world.  Millions  upon 
millions  crowding  here  will  tramp  the  highways  into 
pavements.  Here  are  to  be  established  the  indus- 
trial centers,  here  will  be  achieved  the  commercial 
and  political  victories,  here  will  culminate  the  dom- 
inant civilization  of  the  future.  This  is  the  region 
whose  measureless  possibilities  are  summoning  the 
forces  to  contest.  No  harbor  on  the  Pacific  but  feels 
the  quickening  of  its  throbbing  pulse;  not  a  nation 
with  a  Pacific  exposure  can  safely  fail  to  grasp  its 
vital  importance.  For  supremacy  here  will  eventu- 
ally mean  the  sovereign  power  upon  the  earth. 

On  the  border  of  the  northern  Pacific,  stands 
the  Slav,  brawny,  over-bearing,  untaught,  fanatical, 
sullenly  persistent.  To  the  southward,  in  his  island 
Empire,  the  little  Jap,  suave,  alert,  brilliant,  self- 


188  WINNING  ORATIONS 

confident,  artfully  aggressive.  Across  the  narrow 
intervening  sea,  Japan's  ancient  neighbors,  the 
Chinese,  conservative,  intelligent,  industrious,  eco- 
nomical, all-enduring.  On  the  opposite  shore  of  the 
great  ocean,  the  American,  progressive,  energetic, 
far-seeing,  altruistic,  democratic,  Christian.  Russia, 
Japan,  China,  America, — these  are  the  peoples  about 
the  Pacific  destined  to  leading  parts  in  this  drama 
of  world  conflict. 

Russia  emerged  from  the  war  with  Japan,  her 
resources  crippled,  her  peasantry  impoverished,  the 
very  foundations  of  her  government  unstable.  But 
notwithstanding  these  facts,  notwithstanding  the 
Treaty  of  Portsmouth  and  the  Anglo-Japanese  Al- 
liance, Russia  remains  the  Unbeaten  Power.  She 
has  abated  none  of  her  ambitions.  She  is  promoting 
great  waves  of  emigration  from  European  Russia 
into  her  far  Eastern  provinces.  She  is  inaugurating 
an  ambitious  industrial  and  commercial  program. 
She  is  knitting  up  her  Asiatic  Empire  with  a  network 
of  strategic  railways,  destined  to  world  influence. 
Profiting  by  the  lesson  she  has  learned,  Russia  is 
developing  her  latent  resources  and  gathering  her 
strength,  that  she  may  be  ultimately  irresistible. 

The  dominant  note  in  Russian  literature,  the 
dominant  force  in  Russian  history,  is  greed  for  ter- 
ritorial expansion.  The  national  dogma,  amounting 
to  a  powerful  instinct  with  the  masses,  that  the 
whole  continent  by  right  belongs  to  the  Russian,  is 
at  the  root  of  his  advance  in  Asia.  Impelled  by 
this  faith,  the  sullen  persistence  of  the  Slav  will 
assert  itself.  Russia  will  come  forth  again. 

Six  years  ago  Japan  was  not  recognized  in  the 
councils  of  the  nations.  Then  came  the  war  with 
Russia.  From  it  Japan  emerged,  bleeding  and  torn 
— but  glorified.  Unaided,  little  Japan  had  checked 
the  tide  of  Slavonic  civilization  which  threatened  to 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  189 

absorb  China,  Manchuria,  and  Korea.  Japan  came 
out  of  this  war  with  the  recognition,  the  conscious- 
ness, and  the  ambitions,  of  a  world  power. 

But  Japan  is  over-populated.  She  must  have 
new  territory  to  relieve  this  congestion.  For  the 
fulfilment  of  her  program  of  expansion  and  of  world 
activity,  she  must  look  to  the  Pacific  and  the  Orient. 
Necessity,  no  less  than  ambition,  impels  her  upon 
a  policy  of  daring  proportions.  Japan  struggles  to 
prevent  the  closing  of  the  future  against  her.  She 
is  outlining  an  industrial,  naval,  and  military  pro- 
gram commensurate  with  her  needs  and  her  ambi- 
tions. She  is  doubling  her  army  and  her  navy,  that 
on  sea  as  on  land  she  may  be  able  to  face  any  world 
power  in  the  Far  East.  Her  self-confidence  and  her 
new  life,  her  fleets  and  her  armies,  her  needs  and 
her  ambitions,  mark  her  for  aggressive  and  deter- 
mined part  in  the  coming  struggle  upon  the  Pacific. 

In  Our  Pacific  Outlook,  China  looms  large;  with 
her  vast  and  fertile  areas;  with  practically  inex- 
haustible resources  yet  undeveloped;  enormous  de- 
posits of  iron  ore,  four  hundred  and  nineteen  thou- 
sand square  miles  underlaid  with  coal,  rich  mines  of 
lead,  tin,  copper,  silver,  and  gold;  with  her  great 
waterways  and  her  two  thousand  miles  of  coast  line; 
with  her  unthinkable  population — four  hundred  and 
thirty-seven  million — three-fourths  the  people  in  the 
Pacific  basin. 

And  China  is  no  longer  the  Walled  Kingdom. 
Today  the  ancient  barriers  are  down,  and  influences 
from  all  directions  play  freely  through  the  Celestial 
Empire.  History  presents  no  more  significant  spec- 
tacle than  the  awakening  of  China  in  the  last  ten 
years.  A  great  race  with  a  great  inheritance  seems 
just  coming  to  its  own.  The  world's  oldest  and 
greatest  Empire,  awake  at  last  to  her  needs,  thrilled 
with  a  new  sense  of  her  power  and  possibility,  is 


190  WINNING  ORATIONS 

aspiring  to  a  place  among  the  nations.  To  what 
shall  be  her  full  awakening?  To  what  program, 
what  principles,  what  ideals,  what  religion?  The 
present  situation  in  China  marks  a  crisis  in  world 
history.  The  policies  of  nations,  the  fate  of  a  race, 
the  course  of  civilization,  are  the  issues  involved. 
China  the  ancient,  the  learned,  the  colossal:  China 
with  her  vast  areas,  her  limitless  resources,  her 
great  waterways,  her  imperial  cities,  her  teeming 
millions;  China  awakening — is  the  peril  or  the  op- 
portunity of  the  twentieth  century. 

Twelve  years  ago  the  United  States  took  little 
part  in  international  affairs.  But  quietly  she  has 
been  doing  a  mighty  work;  she  has  performed  her 
first  task;  she  had  gained  unequalled  wealth;  she  had 
wrought  herself  into  a  great  nation.  But  God  had 
mightier  tasks  for  her.  Above  the  ceaseless  throb- 
bing of  her  industrial  system  came  the  call  of  hu- 
manity. The  spirit  that  in  the  seventeenth  century 
impelled  our  forefathers  across  the  seas,  and  an- 
chored them  in  the  western  wilderness;  the  spirit 
that  in  1776  burst  the  bonds  of  tyranny,  and  paid 
the  patriot's  price  for  liberty;  the  spirit  that  in 
1861  poured  out  the  blood  and  treasure  of  a  nation 
that  oppression  might  be  forever  blotted  out  within 
her  borders; — that  same  spirit,  in  1898,  answered 
the  call  of  Cuba.  It  was  the  inevitable  and  resist- 
less expression  of  the  master  passion  of  a  race. 

The  Spanish  war  followed.  We  began  the  war 
to  free  Cuba;  its  close  found  the  Stars  and  Stripes 
floating  over  a  thousand  islands  of  the  Pacific  seas. 
At  the  beginning  of  the  war  we  were  a  people  com- 
mercially and  politically  self-absorbed;  at  its  close 
a  world  power  with  the  consciousness  of  world-wide 
obligation  and  destiny.  Beyond  the  scope  of  our 
small  intentions  God  was  leading  us,  along  the  line 
of  duty,  into  broader  opportunity  and  to  larger 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  191 

tasks.  As  the  result  of  our  victory,  we  were  led 
forth  to  the  Pacific,  into  the  struggle  for  its  su- 
premacy. 

The  opening  years  of  the  twentieth  century 
find  America  best  equipped  for  the  coming  contest. 
She  has  the  longest  coast  line  on  the  Pacific.  She 
is  the  great  agricultural  and  manufacturing  nation 
upon  its  shores.  She  is  the  largest  exporter —  a  na- 
tion that  can  feed  and  clothe  the  world.  Her  re- 
sources are  unequalled.  Her  inter-oceanic  location 
gives  her  tremendous  advantage.  Her  position  upon 
the  Pacific  is  strategic.  The  completion  of  the 
Panama  Canal  will  bring  all  her  cities  into  close 
trade  relations  with  Asia.  It  will  put  the  United 
States  three  thousand  miles  nearer  China  than  is 
any  nation  of  Europe.  Her  chain  of  newly  won 
stations, — Hawaii,  the  Ladrones,  the  Philippines, — 
with  which  she  has  garrisoned  the  Pacific,  rise  up 
like  ocean  sentinels,  guarding  her  commerce  and  her 
pathway  to  the  Orient.  Her  people  have  the  am- 
bitions and  the  qualifications  for  leadership;  a  virile 
energy,  a  grasp  of  situation,  a  promptness  in  action, 
a  genius  for  achievement,  and  a  faith  in  the  supreme 
destiny  of  their  own  country,  that  mark  them  for 
supremacy. 

America  is  just  entering  upon  her  larger  life 
and  tasks.  Her  ultimate  place  and  influence  as  a 
world  power  is  yet  to  be  achieved.  If  American 
trade  is  to  be  the  imperial  trade  of  the  globe,  if 
America  is  to  fulfill  an  appointed  mission  of  civil- 
ization in  Asia,  she  must  dominate  the  Pacific.  The 
logic  of  events  has  marked  out  for  her  a  program 
of  industrial  expansion,  and  argues  her  industrial 
and  commercial  supremacy.  The  higher  logic  of 
Divine  equipment  and  appointment  indicates  her 
world  mission  and  destiny.  Clearly,  the  hand  of 
God's  guidance  in  her  affairs,  in  her  acquisitions  and 


192  WINNING  ORATIONS 

her  victories,  is  leading  her,  along  the  pathway  of 
the  Pacific,  to  the  Orient,  to  establish  there  the 
empire  of  the  principles  she  represents.  Her  step- 
ping-stones across  the  Pacific  lead  her  to  China's 
very  door.  This  progressive  young  Republic  and 
that  conservative  old  Empire  are  thus  brought  close 
together.  In  the  awakening  and  re-shaping  of 
China,  America  must  wield  a  beneficient  and  deter- 
mining influence.  In  the  inevitable  struggle  around 
this  great  New  China,  America  must  dominate. 

Russia  wants  China.  To  appropriate  and  as- 
similate China  would  make  her  the  mightiest  em- 
pire the  world  has  known.  But  Russian  supremacy 
in  China  means  the  turning  back  of  the  forces  of 
liberty  and  enlightenment;  means  the  triumph  of 
absolutism;  means  that  the  hands  of  these  millions 
of  Asia,  groping  for  the  light,  shall  meet  only  the 
mailed  fist  of  the  Russian  Conqueror.  Japan  wants 
China.  To  control  China  would  make  her  mistress 
of  the  Orient.  But  Japanese  ascendency  in  China 
makes  possible  the  realization  of  that  doctrine,  for- 
ever opposed  to  liberty  and  progress,  "The  Orient 
for  Orientals."  America  must  dominate  China — 
dominate  by  the  force  of  her  ideals  and  the  Faith 
she  represents;  because  the  supremacy  of  these  in 
China  means  the  passing  of  Orientalism;  means 
the  spread  of  liberty  and  enlightenment;  means  that 
when  the  Russian  Bear  shall  have  gathered  his 
strength  for  another  invasion  of  Asia,  he  will  find 
his  advance  forever  checked,  not  by  Japanse  bay- 
onets or  the  Chinese  wall  of  old,  but  by  a  new  wall, 
whose  mighty  boulders  shall  be  the  ideals  and 
principles  of  Western  civilization  embedded  deep  in 
the  Mongol  mind;  whose  mortar  shall  be  the  all- 
cohesive  force  of  Christian  faith  and  love. 

At  the  heart  of  American  civilization  are  the 
principles  of  peace  and  the  brotherhood  of  man.  Out 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  193 

of  the  world  conflict,  the  inevitable  clash  of  inter- 
ests and  struggle  for  supremacy,  must  come  eventu- 
ally the  higher  principles  and  ideals;  the  passing  of 
Buddha  and  Confucius  before  the  widening  reign  of 
the  Galilean;  the  broader  establishment  of  that  Em- 
pire of  Peace  towards  which  prophets  have  looked 
and  statesmen  toiled. 

Today  the  eyes  of  all  the  world  are  upon  Asia. 
She  absorbs  the  thought  of  the  merchant,  the  states- 
man, the  philanthropist,  the  Christian.  She  holds, 
for  all  of  them,  the  larger  possibilities  of  the  fu- 
ture: vast  areas,  slumbering  for  centuries,  to  be 
electrified  into  life  and  growth;  giant  industries  to 
be  established;  the  foundations  of  government  to 
be  laid  anew;  beneficient  reforms  to  be  inaugurated; 
ten  hundred  millions  to  be  redeemed. 

Asia,  Great  Asia,  is  before  us.  The  Pacific  is 
our  pathway.  This  new  Mediterranean  must  be  an 
Anglo-Saxon  Sea,  the  undisputed  highway  of 
Christian  commerce  and  ideas.  The  present  crisis 
is  an  opportunity  unmatched  in  history.  Ordained 
Priestess  of  Liberty,  appointed  standard-bearer  of 
Christian  civilization  upon  the  earth,  America  must 
advance  confidently  to  her  destined  place  and  po- 
tency among  the  nations;  the  church  of  Christ  in 
America  must  summon  all  her  energy  and  zeal  to 
her  supreme  evangelistic  task  and  victory. 

Our  Pacific  Outlook  is  the  vision  of  our  larger 
future.  In  that  direction  lies  our  heritage  of  ex- 
pansion and  of  duty.  Through  the  Golden  Gates 
of  Sunset,  America  looks  out  upon  imperial  possi- 
bilities; fortified  by  her  past,  inspired  by  the  vision 
of  her  future,  confident  in  her  supreme  destiny. 


TWENTY-THIRD  CONTEST  (1910) 
THE  LION  OF  THE  NORTH 

(C.   A.   ALSETH,   YANKTON   COLLEGE) 


History  is  a  record  of  the  achievements  of 
heroic  souls.  Great  principles  have  been  planted  in 
the  fertile  soil  of  intellect,  and  there,  stimulated  by 
the  appeal  of  a  hungry  social  order,  they  have  taken 
root,  sprung  up  and  matured  into  definite  form,  and 
imparted  new  life  to  succeeding  generations.  What 
is  known  as  the  Enlightenment,  that  intellectual 
inspiration  of  the  eighteenth  century,  springing 
from  the  mind  of  John  Locke,  its  father,  was  car- 
ried by  Voltaire  across  the  channel  to  the  con- 
tinent of  Europe,  there  to  exert  its  influence  in  the 
shaping  of  civilization.  The  Renaissance,  that 
stimulus  to  the  cultivation  of  the  aesthetic  and  ar- 
tistic temperament  of  man,  springing  from  its 
Italian  birth,  spread  out  over  Europe  to  instill  new 
life  into  the  human  race.  But  that  code  of  life,  first 
enunciated  from  the  summit  of  the  Palestinian 
mountains  by  the  man  of  Galilee,  revived  through 
the  iron  will  of  a  Martin  Luther  and  the  organizing 
intellect  of  John  Calvin,  was  destined  to  create  a 
greater  influence  than  either  of  these. 

The  immediate  effects  of  the  Reformation  had 
passed.  The  wave  of  popular  enthusiasm  that  had 
swept  all  before  it,  instilling  ideas  of  religious  free- 
dom into  the  mind  of  the  German  peasant,  had  been 


196  WINNING  ORATIONS 

superseded  by  the  Catholic  reaction,  which  tended 
not  only  to  rob  the  Germanic  nations  of  their  free- 
dom of  religious  thought  but  also  to  draw  closer  the 
bounds  of  political  absolutism.  Thus  was  the  spirit 
of  the  reformation  about  to  be  broken.  In  the 
atmosphere  of  dark  foreboding  that  ushered  in  the 
events  that  made  history  at  the  dawn  of  the  seven- 
teenth century,  "the  hero  of  militant  protestantism, 
Gustavus  Adolphus,  stands  forth  in  solitary  grand- 
eur." 

The  peace  of  Augsburg  in  1555  had  given  re- 
ligious toleration  to  the  German  states.  Over  the 
whole  of  that  nation  the  protestant  faith  had  be- 
come supreme,  until  the  Ambassador  of  Venice  at 
the  court  of  Vienna  could  say  that  only  one  tenth 
of  the  population  still  remained  within  the  fold  of 
the  papacy.  But  the  smouldering  embers  of  partisan 
hatred  still  continued  to  glow,  needing  only  the 
breeze  of  political  ambition,  stimulated  by  the  in- 
tolerant spirit  of  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  to  fan  them 
into  the  fiery  horrors  of  a  religious  war.  When,  on 
the  morning  of  the  23rd  day  of  May,  1618,  the  im- 
perial regents  were  thrown  from  the  window  of  their 
council  chamber  at  Prague,  the  challenge  was  sent 
out  by  the  protestant  leaders  for  thirty  years  of  in- 
cessant war;  a  contest  that  would  involve  the  ruler 
of  every  nation  in  Europe;  a  contest  that  would  turn 
the  fertile  fields  of  the  Rhenish  valley  into  a  barren 
waste;  a  contest  upon  which  would  hang  the  destiny 
of  freedom  of  religious  thought  for  our  own  Anglo- 
Saxon  race. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  197 

The  year  1630  brought  on  the  crisis  of  the  great 
Thirty  Years  War.  If  the  cause  of  protestantism 
was  to  survive  the  crushing  tyranny  of  the  Edict  of 
Restitution,  that  cause  must  find  assistance. 
Charles  I.  of  England  was  reluctant.  Richelieu  was 
persecuting  the  French  Huguenots.  The  selfish 
Christian  of  Denmark  had  just  concluded  his  ignoble 
peace.  In  the  midst  of  these  conditions,  from  th<j 
snow-clad  hills  of  Scandinavia,  came  rumors  of 
Gustavus  Adolphus;  a  monarch  born  of  sturdy  Vik- 
ing blood;  reared  in  an  atmosphere  of  Christian 
discipline  and  loyalty  to  duty;  trained  in  the  mili- 
tary school  of  actual  warfare  in  his  earlier  struggles 
with  Denmark,  and  on  the  plains  of  Poland  and  of 
Russia.  This  was  the  man  who  rallied  to  the  de- 
fense of  the  protestant  cause.  This  was  the  man 
who  called  to  the  people  of  a  broken  and  disrupted 
Sweden  and  united  them  under  the  banner  of  a 
patriotic  national  existence.  He  it  was  that  led  his 
trained  veterans,  filled  with  his  own  indomitable 
spirit  of  loyalty,  across  the  Baltic  into  Germany, 
and  when  the  time  came  to  strike  a  blow  on  behalf 
of  his  chosen  faith,  he  struck  with  decisive  and 
tremendous  power. 

Wallenstein,  foiled  and  exasperated,  had  been 
forced  to  withdraw  from  before  the  walls  of  Stral- 
sund  only  to  find  himself  deprived  of  his  command 
by  the  assembly  at  Ratisbon.  Tilly  took  charge  of 
his  troops,  and  after  the  siege  of  Magdeburg,  the 
most  cruel  sack  in  all  modern  history,  he  prepared 


198  WINNING  ORATIONS 

to  meet,  in  open  battle,  the  "snow  king  of  the 
north." 

The  opportunity  came  on  the  memorable  field 
of  Leipsic.  Assisted  by  18,000  troops,  the  northern 
king,  with  26,000  Swedish  soldiers,  faced  the  im- 
perial line  40,000  strong.  The  battle  of  Leipsic  was 
one  of  the  decisive  struggles  of  the  world.  The  fate 
of  protestantism  trembled  in  the  balance.  If 
Gustavus  Adolphus  was  victorious,  it  would  bring 
to  his  army,  recruits  from  every  hamlet  in  Germany; 
it  would  take  his  Empire  out  of  seclusion  and  make 
it  one  of  the  foremost  states  of  Europe!  it  would 
win  the  hesitating  German  princes  to  the  protes- 
tant  cause;  it  would  give  to  the  poor  German  peas- 
ant, crushed  under  the  yoke  of  imperial  tyranny, 
freedom  of  conscience  and  of  religion.  But  if  the 
Spanish  troops  of  the  Emperor  should  carry  the  day, 
the  gloomy  clouds  of  despotism  would  roll  on;  the 
cruel  spirit  of  the  Edict  of  Restitution  would  speed 
northward  unchecked  in  its  course  to  the  Baltic 
Sea;  the  protestant  strongholds  of  northern  Europe 
would  fall  before  its  terrible  power;  aye,  even  the 
Church  of  England,  with  its  strength  of  continental 
separation,  built  upon  the  strong  foundation  laid  by 
the  Tudor  monarchy,  would  probably  fall  before  its 
cruel  tyranny  in  the  unfortunate  civil  wars  of  the 
Stuart  kings. 

But  fortunately  for  protestantism,  for  civiliza- 
tion, and  for  history,  on  the  morning  of  September 
7th,  1631,  the  Edict  of  Restitution  stood  looking  into 
its  grave.  As  the  sun  sank  upon  the  western  hori- 
zon, and  the  shades  of  evening  spread  out  over  the 
field  of  battle  to  hide  the  cruelty  and  carnage  of 
that  awful  day,  six  hundred  men,  the  last  remnant, 
of  the  imperial  forces,  carried  Tilly  from  the  field — 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  199 

the  man  who  had  suffered  his  first  defeat  at  the 
age  of  seventy-two.  "The  failure  before  Stralsund 
had  reminded  the  Emperor  that  there  was  a  limit 
to  his  power,  but  the  battle  of  Leipsic  fixed  the 
limit  to  that  power." 

The  road  to  Vienna  lay  open.  All  Europe,  with 
bated  breath  watched  the  progress  of  events.  As 
the  smoke  of  war  rolled  away  from  the  field  of 
battle,  there  stood  the  protestant  hero  proclaiming 
a  new  era  to  the  world.  Was  this  a  conquest  for 
territory?  Was  it  a  struggle  for  Scandinavian 
supremacy?  Was  it  an  effort  to  wring  from  Ferdi- 
nand the  Imperial  throne?  These  were  the  ques- 
tions that  troubled  the  friends  of  the  reformation. 
But  contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  chancellor;  con- 
trary to  the  wishes  of  Richelieu  or  the  expectations 
of  Wallenstein,  looking  out  over  the  scene  of  action 
from  his  southern  home,  the  northern  king  turned 
away  from  the  city  of  Vienna  to  devote  his  energies 
to  the  cause  for  which  he  had  come.  If  the  power 
of  the  Catholic  League  was  not  broken,  the  cause 
of  protestantism  must  forever  die. 

It  is  interesting  to  notice  Gustavus  Adolphus 
as  he  spent  the  winter  months  in  the  city  of  May- 
ence.  The  friends  of  the  Emperor,  who  had  boasted 
that  his  ambitious  veterans  would  disappear  before 
their  mighty  legions,  now  saw,  instead,  visions  of 
a  tottering  Hapsburg  rule.  He  had  not  come  to 
establish  a  world  Empire.  Within  his  unselfish  soul, 
fanned  by  the  pleadings  of  a  persecuted  race,  burned 
a  zeal  for  religious  toleration.  His  part  was  to  save 
the  protestant  faith  from  the  throes  of  the  reaction. 
The  rule  of  Cromwell's  Commonwealth  was  a  rule 
of  the  sword.  But  Gustavus  Adolphus  looked  with 
deeper  prophetic  vision  into  the  future,  and  saw 
an  empire  governed,  not  by  the  iron  hand  of  the 


200  WINNING  ORATIONS 

soldier,  but  by  a  league  of  princes,  united  in  a  com- 
mon cause  to  check  the  oncoming  tide  of  Spanish 
Inquisition.  Such  were  his  plans  for  the  political 
future  of  Germany.  But  that  favoring  star  of  for- 
tune that  had  led  him  on  to  become  the  standard 
bearer  of  the  reformation  was  destined  to  leave  him 
in  the  height  of  his  glory  and  to  sink  forever  on 
the  bloody  field  of  Lutzen. 

Sixty-five  thousand  troops  under  the  imperial 
banner  lay  intrenched  on  a  plain  between  Leipsic 
and  Lutzen.  At  the  death  of  Tilly,  Wallenstein  was 
again  placed  in  command  and  lay  quietly  waiting 
for  the  attack.  The  Swedish  king  had  hoped  to  reach 
the  imperial  troops  in  time  to  surprise  them  on  the 
evening  of  the  15th,  but  was  compelled  to  spend  the 
night  in  arms,  waiting  for  the  approach  of  day. 
Morning  dawned  with  a  heavy  fog  overspreading 
the  field,  preventing  action  until  about  eleven 
o'clock.  Prayers  were  held  as  usual  in  the  Swedish 
camp,  followed  by  Luther's  Battle  Hymn, 

"A    mighty    fortress    is    our    God, 
A  bulwark  never  failing  ; 
Our  helper  He  amid  the  flood 
Of  mortal  ills  prevailing  ; 

which  filled  the  air  with  inspiration  for  the  con- 
flict. The  hero  of  the  battle  rode  forward  on  a 
white  horse.  As  the  mists  began  to  clear  away,  and 
the  sun  shot  its  rays  over  that  anxious  field,  wav- 
ing his  sword  above  his  head  he  shouted,  "Forward 
now  in  the  name  of  God,"  and  there  broke  out  upon 
the  morning  air  the  tramp,  tramp,  of  heavy  feet 
with  measured  tread,  and  the  whole  line  charged 
forward  to  carry  the  intrenchments.  But  a  furious 
artillery  fire  from  the  imperial  troops  forced  them 
back.  Rallied  by  the  voice  of  Gustavus  they  turned 
again  upon  their  foe,  and  captured  a  battery  in  the 
center  of  the  fortifications,  and  all  about  them,  for 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  201 

nine  hours  the  battle  raged.  But  upon  this  vantage 
ground  the  imperialists  began  to  concentrate  their 
guns,  and  before  the  irresistible  fire  of  a  whole  ar- 
tillery line  the  Swedes  began  to  waver.  Their  king 
rode  forward  to  rally  them,  and  while  furiously 
charging  into  the  midst  of  the  imperial  stronghold 
a  soldier  cried  out,  "The  king  bleeds!  The  king 
bleeds!"  But  Gustavus  called  back,  "It  is  nothing. 
Follow  me;"  and  plunged  into  the  thickest  of  the 
enemy.  Another  shot  struck  him  and  he  fell  to  the 
ground.  As  he  lay  there  helpless  the  enemy  one 
after  another,  fired  at  the  dying  hero.  When  asked 
his  name,  he  said  in  a  feeble  voice,  "I  am  the  king 
of  Sweden  and  seal  with  my  life's  blood  the  protes- 
tant  religion  and  the  liberties  of  Germany." 

"Yea,  though  thou  lie  upon  the  dust. 
When  they  who  helped  thee  flee  in  fear. 
Die  full  of  hope  and  manly  trust, 
Like  those  who  fell  in  battle  here. 
Another  hand  thy  sv.-ord  shall  wield. 
Another  hand  the  standard  wave. 
Till  from  the  trumpet's  mouth  is  pealed 
The  blast  of  triumph  o'er  the  grave." 

The  white,  riderless,  blood-stained  charger  flew 
down  the  line,  proclaiming,  everywhere  the  sad  news 
of  the  fallen  king.  Cries  of  vengeance  rent  the  air. 
Bernard  of  Saxe-Weimar  rallied  the  protestant 
forces  and  before  this  irresistible  avalanche  of  hu- 
man forms,  as  night  spread  its  enshrouding  mantle 
over  the  scene  of  battle,  the  imperial  forces  were 
swept  away.  Wallenstein  gathered  the  remnant  of 
his  troops  and  fell  back  into  Saxony,  to  hide  him- 
self if  possible  from  the  disgrace  of  defeat. 

Two  hundred  sixty-eight  years  have  passed 
away  since  the  death  of  Gustavus  Adolphus.  His- 
tory has  placed  its  verdict  upon  his  chaarcter,  and 
his  career;  simple,  brave,  passionate,  truthful,  de- 
vout. He  was  a  leader  of  men.  His  justice,  his 
courage,  and  his  devotion  to  his  cause  inspired  those 


202  WINNING  ORATIONS 

about  him.  He  was  no  mere  conqueror,  no  ambitious 
Napoleon,  making  a  nation's  exigency  his  ladder  to 
personal  aggrandizement.  He  felt  himself  God- 
called  to  the  work  of  saving  the  protestant  north. 
He  never  wavered  in  his  purpose,  nor  allowed  him- 
self to  be  drawn  aside  by  glittering  rewards  of  con- 
quest. So  great  was  his  power  of  spirit  that  even 
in  his  death  he  conquered.  This  was  the  spirit, 
the  character  of  the  "Lion  of  the  North,"  who  first 
dared  to  check  the  tyranny  that  Germany  was 
powerless  to  resist;  the  savior  of  Protestantism,  who 
established  peace  and  toleration,  the  really  great 
achievement  of  the  modern  world. 


TWENTY-FOURTH  CONTEST  (1911) 
MEN  OF  VISION 

(HARVEY  L.  LEAVITT.  DAKOTA  WESLEYAN) 

Our  present  civilization  is  the  result  of  many 
ages  of  struggle  and  sacrifice.  Visions  of  the  ideal 
have  ever  inspired  new  thoughts  and  established 
new  principles.  The  untrodden  path  which  the  hu- 
man race  is  compelled  to  follow  are  beset  by  many 
difficulties  and  obstacles.  Custom  and  bigotry  make 
the  advance  movements  of  society  slow  and  labor- 
ious. Often  right  has  been  punished  white  wrong 
has  lived  on  for  centuries.  But  when  it  has  been 
necessary  to  do  a  great  work  for  the  world,  com- 
manders have  appeared.  Men  of  vision  have  stepped 
out  from  among  the  people  to  become  leaders.  In 
them  great  objectives  have  been  incarnated  and, 
thrilled  by  an  unseen  power,  these  men  have  become 
vital  forces  in  the  uplift  of  humanity. 

A  vision  is  an  ideal  interpreted  through  reason 
and  conscience.  It  is  not  creed,  nor  a  code  of  laws, 
but  a  deep  and  vital  sense  of  truth  and  right.  It 
inspires  man  not  only  to  think  about  life  prob- 
lems, but  to  think  them  through  to  logical  con- 
clusions. It  brings  sound  convictions,  fearless 
courage,  and  the  spirit  of  altruism.  It  enables  the 
reformer  to  endure  oppression,  to  defy  persecution, 
and  to  face  death.  A  mere  conviction  is  of  little 
value.  Often  the  cause  of  wrong  is  supported  by 
men  of  conviction.  Courage  alone  is  not  a  trans- 
forming power.  An  outlaw  at  times  displays  re- 
markable courage.  But  when  courage  and  convic- 
tion are  born  of  noble  vision  they  then  become  a 
dynamic  in  the  upward  progress  of  society.  A  few 
centuries  ago  religious  liberty  and  constitutional 


204  WINNING  ORATIONS 

freedom  were  but  sanguine  dreams  of  humanity, 
while  today  we  count  them  among  the  richest  bless- 
ings of  our  heritage. 

Turn  to  the  history  of  the  Christian  religion. 
Eleven  men  in  Palestine  set  out  to  conquer  the  world. 
Oppression,  persecution,  and  even  death  did  not 
stop  their  onward  march.  Over  Asia  and  Europe 
the  Christian  faith  was  spread,  until  kings  anJ 
monarchs  of  the  earth  finally  surrendered  and  gov- 
ernments yielded  to  its  principles.  Then  came  the 
dark  Ages — a  period  in  which  the  church  and  state 
were  united,  free  thought  suppressed,  and  papal 
power  supreme, — an  age  in  which  the  people  were 
deceived  by  a  licentious  clergy,  truth  and  justice 
were  trampled  in  the  mire,  and  salvation  was  sold 
as  merchandise.  But  quickened  by  oppression  and 
wrong,  visions  of  religious  freedom  began  to  awaken 
the  spirit  of  the  Reformation  throughout  Europe. 
In  Rome  a  Saxon  monk,  seeking  pardon  for  his 
sins,  was  slowly  climbing  on  his  knees  the  sacred 
stairway  when  these  words  flashed  into  his  mind, 
"The  just  shall  live  by  faith."  The  true  significance 
of  this  thought  penetrated  his  soul,  the  scales  of 
superstition  suddenly  fell  from  his  eyes  and  he  saw 
the  world  with  a  new  vision.  "At  once,"  said  he, 
"I  felt  that  I  was  born  again."  True  to  his  ideal 
he  championed  the  cause  of  the  people,  defied  the 
authority  of  the  'papacy,  published  his  theses  and 
burned  the  Pope's  bull  of  excommunication.  All 
Europe  became  aroused.  At  Worms  before  an  Im- 
perial and  Papal  council  stood  the  lone  monk  with 
naught  to  guide  him  save  his  vision  of  a  divine 
truth.  "Will  you  recant?"  was  the  burning  question. 
In  breathless  silence  humanity  waited.  The  fate  of 
unborn  millions  trembled  in  the  balance.  In  tones 
that  have  echoed  down  through  the  centuries  this 
great  spiritual  emancipator  answered:  "So  help  me 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  205 

God,  I  cannot  and  will  not  recant.  Here  stand  I, 
Martin  Luther."  Like  a  call  to  arms  these  words 
rallied  the  forces  of  Protestantism  and  for  a  hundred 
years  Europe  was  a  field  of  blood.  The  mighty 
power  of  vision  triumphed  and  today  freedom  of 
worship  has  extended  to  the  four  corners  of  the 
earth,  where  one-third  of  the  human  race  is  enlisted 
under  the  banner  of  the  Nazarene. 

The  power  of  vision  is  nowhere  more  evident 
than  in  the  rise  of  constitutional  government.  The 
final  clash  between  the  "Divine  Right  of  kings"  and 
"political  freedom"  took  place  upon  the  battle 
ground  of  the  American  Revolution.  In  the  old 
world,  royal  tyranny  had  dominated  the  govern- 
ments for  centuries,  but  in  the  forests  and  upon  the 
plains  of  the  new  world  the  colonists  had  breathed 
a  spirit  of  independence  which  would  not  permit 
them  to  bow  down  to  an  earthly  king.  England 
claimed  the  unrestricted  power  to  tax.  The  colonists 
denounced  the  act  as  "unconstitutional  and  sub- 
versive to  their  dearest  rights."  "Let  the  rebels 
fight  then,"  said  George  the  Third,  "and  learn  obedi- 
ence." Dare  the  colonists  take  up  arms  against  the 
mother  country?  Lord  North  said  "No!"  But  Wil- 
liam Pitt,  the  greatest  statesman  of  the  times,  had 
courage  to  voice  his  sentiments  in  the  cause  of 
liberty.  Before  Parliament  he  boldly  denounced  the 
English  system  of  tyranny.  He  showed  the  rift 
widening  between  the  colonists  and  the  home  govern- 
ment. He  reached  his  climax  with  these  immortal 
words:  "You  can  never  conquer  America.  Three 
millions  of  people  so  dead  to  all  feelings  of  liberty 
as  to  voluntarily  submit  to  be  slaves  of  us.  If  I 
were  an  American  as  I  am  an  Englishman,  while  a 
foreign  troop  were  landed  in  my  country,  I  would 
never  lay  down  my  arms.  Never!  NEVER! 


206  WINNING  ORATIONS 

NEVER!"  And  that  great  man  of  vision,  William 
Pitt,  had  dealt  a  decisive  blow  to  royal  tyranny. 

At  length  a  crisis  came  to  America.  The  words 
of  William  Pitt  had  been  told  in  the  market  and  by 
the  fireside.  Everywhere  visions  of  freedom  were 
aroused  in  the  minds  of  the  people.  At  Richmond 
a  convention  was  assembled.  The  theme  of  the 
hour  was  "Liberty  or  Bondage,  Life  or  Death." 
Excitement  was  at  white  heat.  Jefferson,  Randolph 
and  Lee,  upon  whom  depended  the  liberties  of  the 
continent,  dared  not  speak  their  thoughts.  But  in  a 
distant  corner  of  that  room  sat  the  Virginia  patriot, 
Patrick  Henry;  his  soul  was  burning  with  the  fires 
of  a  great  cause  as  he  realized  the  hour's  demand. 
Calmly  he  arose  and  walked  to  the  front.  Amid 
shouts  of  "treason"  he  declared  that  the  time  had 
come  to  decide  between  freedom  and  slavery.  The 
old  walls  seemed  to  tremble  as  he  poured  forth 
these  burning  words. 

"We  must  fight!  I  repeat  it,  we  must  fight! 
The  next  gale  that  sweeps  down  from  the  North  will 
bring  to  our  ears  the  clash  of  resounding  arms. 
Why  stand  we  here  idle?  What  is  it  that  Gentle- 
men wish?  What  would  they  have?  Is  life  so  dear, 
or  peace  so  sweet,  as  to  be  purchased  at  the  price 
of  chains  and  slavery?  Forbid  it,  Almighty  God? 
I  know  not  what  course  others  may  take,  but  as  for 
me,  give  me  liberty  or  give  me  death." 

The  effect  of  that  speech  crystalized  the  forces 
of  the  Revolution.  From  that  hour  the  colonies 
were  united.  Then  followed  seven  long  years  of 
fighting,  struggling,  dying;  and  America  was  free! 
The  visions  of  a  great  people  had  sounded  the  knell 
to  royal  tyranny  and  welded  constitutional  freedom 
forever  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  form  of  government. 

The  pages  of  history  are  full  of  glowing  tributes 
to  the  uplifting  power  of  vision.  But  the  times  that 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  207 

demand  the  vision  of  a  Luther,  a  William  Pitt,  or  a 
Patrick  Henry  do  not  all  lie  in  the  past.  Never 
before  has  there  been  a  greater  need  of  this  trans- 
forming element  than  today.  Among  the  nations 
there  are  none  whose  people  are  so  desirous  of  uni- 
versal peace  as  are  the  people  of  America.  This 
nation  is  of  a  cosmopolitan  nature  and  though  loyal 
to  the  Stars  and  Stripes  thousands  of  foster  chil- 
dren in  this  land  still  have  in  their  hearts  a  love 
for  the  home  country.  Here  are  men  from  every 
side.  Here  is  assembled  a  great  world  congress, 
the  overflow  of  a  hundred  empires.  Here  into  our 
own  hands  has  been  placed  the  key  of  international 
and  universal  peace.  The  Court  of  Nations  has 
decreed  that  the  peaceful  settlement  of  all  national 
disputes  is  both  just  and  logical.  The  world  looks 
to  us  to  solve  this  problem.  Will  America  be  true 
to  the  vision?  Does  not  the  twentieth  century  en- 
lightenment disapprove  of  such  sports  as  prize 
fighting?  Have  gladiatorial  combats  and  duelling 
been  classed  with  arson  and  murder?  Yet  our  Sixty- 
First  Congress  voted  less  than  twenty  million  dollars 
for  agriculture  while  sixty  million  was  voted  to  build 
implements  of  war  and  destruction;  twenty  million 
to  feed  men,  sixty  million  to  kill  men. 

Not  only  in  the  cause  of  peace  are  men  of  vision 
needed  but  also  in  the  social,  commercial,  and  po- 
litical fields.  In  the  name  of  business,  venal  mine 
owners  and  railroad  magnates  become  responsible 
for  a  large  unnecessary  destruction  of  life  and  yet 
go  unpunished.  For  the  price  of  gold,  white  slave 
traffickers  trample  in  the  mire  the  fair  name  of 
America.  No  one  denies  the  awful  destruction  of 
intemperance.  A  thousand  crimes  brand  it  as  a 
viperous  enemy  of  home  and  country,  but  before 
God  and  conscience  we  vindicate  by  national  consent. 
In  these  times  of  peace  our  American  democracy  is 


208  WINNING  ORATIONS 

being  severely  tested.  The  treasonous  crimes  of 
bribery  which  have  been  recently  disclosed  in 
Illinois,  Ohio  and  New  York  reveal  the  startling  fact 
that  there  exist  in  the  complexity  of  our  govern- 
ment germs  of  disintegration  "which  are  eating  like 
a  cancer  at  the  very  vitals  of  the  nation." 

All  are  aware  of  these  and  of  other  evils.  But 
what  relief  is  at  hand?  Whither  are  we  tending? 
"Where  there  are  no  visions,"  says  an  old  proverb, 
"the  people  perish."  The  Jew,  the  Greek,  and  the 
Roman  discarded  their  ideals  and  sank  into  oblivion. 
What  is  the  outlook  for  America?  Will  this  na- 
tion, purchased  by  human  blood,  be  destroyed  by 
internal  corruptness?  No!  The  power  that  launched 
the  Reformation  under  Luther,  the  power  that  pro- 
duced the  Declaration  of  Independence,  the  mighty 
power  of  Vision  must  raise  up  men  to  meet  the 
present  crisis.  From  the  rock-bound  New  England 
shores  to  the  Golden  Gate,  from  the  "unsalted  seas" 
to  the  Rio  Grande,  from  every  city  and  every  plain 
men  of  vision  are  now  stepping  forward  to  defend 
the  nation.  In  politics  we  have  such  men  as  Gore 
of  Oklahoma,  La  Follette  of  Wisconsin,  and  many 
others  whose  disclosures  of  graft  and  corruption  are 
arousing  public  conscience  and  helping  to  mould  a 
government  after  the  ideals  of  a  great  people.  In 
the  south  land,  that  Moses  of  the  Twentieth  Century, 
Booker  T.  Washington,  is  faithfully  laboring  to 
solve  the  negro  problem.  In  the  conservation  move- 
ment, such  men  of  vision  as  Gifford  Pinchot  and 
Theodore  Roosevelt  are  spreading  the  altruistic 
spirit,  that  posterity  may  possess  a  heritage  as  great 
as  our  own.  As  long  as  this  nation  realizes  its 
mission  to  the  world  and  to  humanity,  as  long  as 
there  are  men  of  vision,  will  America  endure. 

The  true  dynamic  in  all  progress  has  been  the 
power  of  vision.  It  was  this  power  that  sent  Living- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  209 

stone  into  darkest  Africa,  impelled  Gamewell  to 
face  the  Boxer  uprising  in  China,  and  led  John  G. 
Paton  to  the  South  Sea  Islands.  It  was  this  power 
that  inspired  Abraham  Lincoln  to  emancipate  a  race, 
Bolivar  in  South  America  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of 
Spain,  and  Toussaint  L'Ouverture  in  San  Domingo 
to  withstand  the  attack  of  the  great  Napoleon.  It  is 
this  power  that  has  been  leading  the  Anglo-Saxon 
race  throughout  the  centuries,  overthrowing  tyrants, 
rebuilding  governments,  nerving  reformers  to  face 
death  in  the  cause  of  truth.  Vision  is  that  irresist- 
ible power  which  in  all  ages  has  lifted  man  to  higher 
planes.  The  need  of  this  hour  is  Men  of  Vision; 
men  who  have  faith  in  the  ultimate  triumph  of  truth 
and  justice;  men  who  believe  in  the  principles  of  our 
American  democracy;  men  who  can  calmly  say  in 
the  presence  of  unjust  ridicule  or  oppression, 
"RIGHT  MUST  LIVE"  as  God  has  given  us  to  see 
the  right,  even  if  I  must  die." 


TWENTY-FIFTH  CONTEST  (1912) 
AMERICA'S  INDUSTRIAL  CRISIS 

(ROI  B.  TIBBETTS,  DAKOTA  WESLEY  AN) 


"New  occasions  teach  new  duties."  The  crises 
of  history  have  produced  individual  men  of  vision 
and  power.  From  the  Italian  struggle  for  freedom 
come  forth  Mazzini  and  Garibaldi.  Out  of  the  strife 
of  the  common  people  of  England,  against  the 
tyranny  of  kings,  rise  Hampden  and  Cromwell.  Born 
of  the  war  for  American  independence  stand  Patrick 
Henry  and  Washington.  Out  of  the  throes  of 
African  slavery  stride  William  Lloyd  Garrison  and 
Abraham  Lincoln.  In  the  day  of  peril  these  men 
have  risen  from  the  ranks,  and  casting  aside  polit- 
ical expediency,  have  grappled  with  the  threatened 
dangers,  and  saved  the  cause  of  humanity. 

Confronting  them  were  problems  which  could 
be  solved  by  individual  initiative  and  statesmanship. 
Facing  us  is  a  situation  which  cannot  thus  be  met. 
Then,  conviction  and  wisdom  in  the  heart  of  the 
leader  were  adequate.  Now,  conviction  and  intelli- 
gence must  flame  in  the  heart  of  every  citizen  under 
the  flag.  Their  problems  belonged  to  a  nation  in  its 
birth  and  early  struggles;  ours  belong  to  a  nation 
in  its  day  of  social  and  industrial  expansion. 

History  teaches  us  that  times  of  prosperity  and 
peace  are  times  of  greatest  peril.  Other  nations, 
like  ours,  have  successfully  met  the  dangers  of 
early  life.  Later  years  of  internal  growth  and  de- 
velopment have  proved  their  defeat.  Every  nation 
has  grown  strong  in  times  of  war  with  outside 
foes;  none  have  long  withstood  the  enemies  within 
the  gates,  social  corruption  and  personal  greed. 
These  enemies  face  us  today.  Shall  they  prove  our 


212  WINNING  ORATIONS 

ruin?  Shall  this  people  be  "one  with  Ninevah  and 
Tyre?"  All  of  the  experience  of  history  lies  open 
before  us. 

The  present  situation  is  peculiar,  we  are  at  the 
same  time  blessed  with  peace  and  cursed  with  strife. 

Old  conflicts  separated  nation  against  nation, 
a  king  against  his  people,  or  one  section  against 
another.  Today  we  see  "a  house  divided  against 
itself;"  men  working  side  by  side  to  establish  in- 
dustrial strength  secretly  hating  each  other;  men 
operating  the  same  factory  at  war.  He  who  fur- 
nishes the  capital,  bears  the  responsibility,  secures 
the  supply,  and  finds  the  market,  is  arraigned 
against  him  who  operates  the  machinery,  does  the 
hand  work,  and  turns  out  the  product  ready  for 
market. 

Thus  the  two  factors  of  the  industrial  world, 
labor  and  capital,  are  divided  into  opposing  camps, 
each  swayed  by  the  influence  of  extremists.  On  the 
one  hand  are  lawless  leaders  of  the  socialist  party 
and  trades  unions  declaring  strikes,  encouraging 
riots,  bomb  throwing,  the  maiming  and  murder  of 
honest  workmen,  assaults  upon  women  and  chil- 
dren, and  the  wrecking  of  homes.  On  the  other 
hand,  are  unscrupulous  operators,  oppressing  the 
widow,  exploiting  childhood,  and  abusing  the  ignor- 
ant for  revenue  only. 

This  conflict  is  filling  the  national  mind.  It 
is  perplexing  capital,  and  paralyzing  labor.  Capital 
charges  the  Labor  Trust  with  interference  with  the 
law  of  supply  and  demand,  by  restricting  produc- 
tion, and  artificially  advancing  the  cost  of  commodi- 
ties. Labor  charges  the  Money  Trust  with  defraud- 
ing the  wage-earner  and  increasing  the  cost  of  liv- 
ing, and  it  demands  the  overthrow  of  our  industrial 
system. 

The  danger  becomes  more  startling  as  viewed 
in  the  light  of  our  progress.  In  the  century  and  a 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  213 

quarter  of  our  national  life,  we  have  seen  a  conti- 
nent transformed;  the  land  covered  with  a  network 
of  steel  rails,  upon  which  the  shuttle  of  national 
traffic  weaves  the  fabric  of  our  commerce;  the  air 
lined  with  highways  of  communication  by  which  all 
corners  of  the  nation  become  neighbors;  one  great 
heart-throb  of  industry,  under  the  stroke  and  whir 
of  machinery  in  factory  and  mill;  the  soil  respond- 
ing to  the  care  and  cultivation  of  man;  centers  of 
education  springing  up  at  the  call  of  the  modern 
mind;  hills,  prairies,  and  mountains  alive  with  in- 
dustry and  progress.  But  over  the  scene  hang  the 
clouds  of  an  on-coming  storm.  The  air  is  electric 
with  danger.  Instead  of  universal  happiness,  the 
scene  is  marred  by  the  gleam  of  hate,  the  note  of 
discord,  and  the  sound  of  strife  between  man  and 
man.  Right  relations  are  distorted.  The  bond  of 
friendship  between  capital  and  labor  has  been 
broken.  Mutual  distrust  has  entered.  Labor  and 
capital  have  forgotten  what  each  owes  the  other — 
capital  that  labor  creates  wealth,  is  human  and  has 
sacred  rights;  labor,  that  capital  furnishes  employ- 
ment, "that  capital  like  force,  must  be  massed  to 
accomplish  great  ends;"  that  labor  receives  the  larg- 
est percentage  of  all  the  value  industry  creates, 
and  that  capital  is  the  directing  force  which  makes 
this  industry  possible.  Let  the  toiler  stop  and 
think.  Every  influence  today  is  a  force  shaping  the 
position  of  the  workingman  into  one  of  power  and 
stability,  while  through  all  run  the  mighty  sinews 
of  capital,  connecting  and  supporting  the  whole.  To 
capital  credit  is  due,  for  the  foresight  and  respon- 
sibility that  creates  enterprise.  To  labor  justice 
must  be  given,  with  a  living-wage  that  represents 
a  fair  return  under  the  existing  economic  conditions. 
The  difficulty  of  our  situation  is  increased  be- 
cause our  dangers  are  worked  into  the  very  founda- 


214  WINNING  ORATIONS 

tion  and  principles  of  our  government,  into  our  sys- 
tems and  laws,  our  customs  and  habits.  They  have  de- 
veloped in  the  growth  of  our  industries.  From  all 
sides  conditions  have  contributed  to  complicate  and 
intensify  the  difficulty  of  the  problem.  From  the 
evolution  of  organized  power  have  come  the  giant 
corporations  and  the  labor  organizations.  Corporate 
power  has  made  possible  the  amassing  of  the 
country's  wealth  in  the  hands  of  the  few,  and  the 
consequent  poverty  of  the  masses.  With  the  con- 
centration of  wealth  has  come  the  vulgar  flaunting 
of  the  very  rich  before  the  very  poor,  the  high  cost 
of  living,  and  the  system  of  graft  in  politics  and 
society.  The  very  forces  that  have  made  us  strong 
have  developed  our  peril. 

This  ever-widening  breach  in  our  commercial 
life  must  be  closed.  But  two  classes  in  our  midst 
make  it  impossible,  the  ignorant  and  the  criminal. 
These  twin  evils  infest  our  life  and  cause  our  peril. 

Ignorance  has  ever  been  the  henchman  of 
tyranny  and  greed.  A  wide-spread  industrial  educa- 
tion is  imperative.  Ignorance  cannot  reason  justly. 
It  falls  an  easy  victim  of  conditions.  To  the  ignor- 
ant laborer  capital  becomes  a  tyrant,  against  whose 
oppression  a  blow  in  the  dark  seems  its  only  redress. 
"Well  may  capital  tremble  when  political  power  is 
in  the  hands  of  ignorant  labor.  The  power  can  not 
be  removed;  the  class  must  be  destroyed;  labor  must 
be  enlightened."  Labor  made  intelligent,  can  think 
rightly.  "It  knows  that  capital  is  the  motor  of  the 
age.  It  is  ever  changing  places  with  capital;  the 
incompetent  heir  forfeits  his  place  to  the  able  em- 
ployee." Make  the  laboring  class  sane  and  virile 
with  the  power  of  knowledge,  and  the  toiler  becomes 
an  added  force  in  solving  the  national  problems. 

But  more  menacing  even  than  the  ignorant  is 
the  criminal,  the  criminal  rich,  the  criminal  poor. 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  215 

Whence  this  class?  The  product  of  our  civilization? 
Not  so.  Look  deep  into  the  history  of  life,  and  from 
its  darkest  pages  comes  the  answer,  the  cause  of 
crime  is  in  the  loss  of  conscience.  In  our  industrial 
growth  conscience  has  been  dethroned  by  our  mad 
struggle  for  gain.  It  must  be  restored.  The  great 
need  of  our  business  world  is  conscience.  It  alone 
can  restore  right  relations  between  labor  and  capital. 
"Capital  without  conscience  means  tyranny;  labor 
without  conscience,  anarchy."  Lacking  this  great 
pilot  of  human  progress,  the  ship  of  our  national 
life  will  be  driven  upon  the  rocks  by  the  industrial 
storm  now  beating  upon  us  with  increasing  fury. 
Ignorance,  the  slave  of  fear  and  hate,  and  crime,  the 
destroyer  of  virtue  and  nobility  must  be  eliminated 
from  our  life  or  the  voice  of  "war's  grim  command" 
shall  again  summon  us  with  drum-beat  and  bugle- 
call. 

Whither  shall  we  turn  for  the  enlightenment 
of  the  ignorant,  and  the  awakening  of  conscience  in 
the  heart  and  mind  of  the  criminal?  To  the  poli- 
ticians and  political  parties?  They  have  tried  and 
failed.  Their  plummet  is  for  shallower  waters.  Our 
hope  is  in  the  educational  forces  of  the  nation,  the 
home  and  the  church,  the  school  and  the  college.  The 
atmosphere  must  be  surcharged  with  the  seriousness 
of  the  hour.  These  problems  of  industrial  and  social 
life  must  furnish  themes  of  study  and  discussion. 
Let  it  become  a  national  law  that  no  child  or  adult 
shall  continue  to  work  without  becoming  intelligent- 
ly familiar  with  the  great  fundamentals  of  educa- 
tion and  government.  If  we  cannot  thus  care  for 
the  foreigner,  let  the  ports  of  entry  be  closed  until 
we  can  properly  provide  for  those  within  our  gates. 
Let  a  Carnegie,  instead  of  building  libraries,  and 
endowing  palaces  of  peace,  educate  and  lift  up  the 
great  mass  of  foreigners  employed  in  his  own  works. 


216  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Place  in  every  school  and  college  curriculum, 
courses  in  practical  work;  instate  the  living  subject 
that  is  vital  to  the  age  in  which  we  are  doing  our 
work. 

Some  intelligent  effort  has  been  made  to  meet 
the  situation.  For  the  adults  are  provided  technical 
courses  in  sociology  and  mechanics,  psychological 
experiments  for  efficiency  under  scientific  manage- 
ment, and  city  settlement  work.  For  the  child  we 
have  the  George  Junior  Republic,  the  National 
Newsboy  Association,  the  Juvenile  Courts,  and  child- 
labor  laws  in  some  states.  These  have  resulted 
from  the  effort  to  right  the  wrongs,  but  they  have 
only  touched  the  outer  edge,  the  heart  of  the  prob- 
lem has  not  been  reached.  Industrial  intelligence 
and  moral  responsibility  must  become  the  very 
atmosphere  of  our  schools  and  homes. 

"Capital  must  be  humanized;  labor  must  be 
Christianized.  Christian  labor  is  the  sublimest  force 
in  history."  Upon  this  are  we  built  and  in  this  do 
we  hope  for  the  future. 

Christian  industry  is  wrought  into  the  very 
life  of  the  Republic.  Gaining  a  foothold  upon  the 
soil  of  Massachusetts  and  Virginia,  winding  up 
through  the  mountain  defiles,  it  took  its  way  out 
across  the  plains,  "striding  up  the  side  of  the  tower- 
ing Rockies,  over  the  crowning  heights"  and  down 
upon  the  fertile  shores  of  the  Pacific,  led  by  the 
best  blood  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race.  Thus  it  pushes 
to  the  front,  pioneering  for  a  new  race  of  men,  con- 
quering the  wilderness,  sowing  the  prairies  with 
homes,  lining  the  continent  with  cities,  wresting 
coal  and  precious  metal  from  the  grip  of  the  earth, 
refining  the  crude  into  the  pure,  harnessing  the 
streams,  creating  educational  centers,  giving  the 
best  of  its  manhood  and  womanhood  to  the  building 
of  a  nation,  wherein  dwelleth  righteousness  and  se- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  217 

curity.  But  note  the  procession  that  moves  against 
these  interests  of  civilization,  faithless  industry,  led 
on  by  ignorance  and  crime.  Let  the  voice  of  op- 
pressed ignorance;  the  murderous  slaughter  of  the 
Chicago  Teamsters  Strike;  the  voice  of  outraged 
womanhood  rising  from  white  slavedom;  the  bombs 
which  wrecked  the  Los  Angeles  Times  building;  the 
cry  of  the  mothers  and  children  rising  from  the 
hovels  of  the  Lawrence  textile  mills;  let  these  show 
us  the  fury  of  industry  without  intelligence,  without 
conscience,  without  God. 

Then  let  the  spirit  of  the  Man  of  Galilee  touch 
our  troubled  life;  touch  it  "in  the  vaults  of  greed, 
in  the  homes  of  want,  in  the  camps  of  sin," — touch, 
and  win,  and  unite.  Let  the  light  of  intelligent 
manhood  drive  out  the  night  of  ignorance,  and  the 
glory  of  a  living  conscience  reign  supreme.  Let  him 
whose  brain  is  weary  with  honest  thought,  grip  the 
hand  that  is  rough  with  toil. 

Then  with  a  united  industrial  people,  with  our 
problems  settled  in  the  halls  of  peace,  and  our  land 
alight  with  brotherhood;  our  commerce  shall  travel 
the  high  seas,  and  go  to  the  ends  of  the  earth.  Our 
ideals  shall  influence  the  policies  of  all  nations,  and 
under  God  the  glory  of  this  people  shall  never  de- 
part. 


TWENTY-SIXTH  CONTEST  (1913) 
THE  RESTRICTION  OF  IMMIGRATION 

(FLOYD    POOL,    STATE   UNIVERSITY) 


Ellis  Island  is  the  great  gateway  to  America. 
Through  its  portals  are  admitted  every  day  of  the 
year  three  thousand  foreigners.  Dawn  sheds  its 
light  on  a  veritable  army  that  has  left  the  father- 
land for  a  New  World.  Twilight  fades  into  dark- 
ness leaving  a  new  burden  of  care  on  this  Republic. 
What  America  means  to  the  immigrant  is  evident; 
but  what  the  immigrant  means  for  America  is  a 
problem  of  increasing  perplexity. 

Prior  to  1820  immigration  to  the  United  States 
was  insignificant.  Soon  after  the  war  for  inde- 
pendence came  the  hard  times  of  Europe,  followed 
by  the  German  and  French  revolutions,  and  the 
Russian  legislation  against  Jews.  These  unstable 
conditions  in  Europe  and  the  golden  opportunities 
of  the  New  World  caused  immigration  to  America 
to  assume  alarming  proportions.  From  one  hundred 
fifty-one  thousand  in  the  decade  from  1820  to  1830, 
it  has  increased  until  today  thirty  per  cent  of  our 
entire  population  is  foreign  born.  Do  you  know  that 
since  182Q  over  twenty-eight  million  immigrants 
have  been  admitted  to  the  United  States?  Do 
you  know  that  in  the  last  decade  over  eight  million 
persons  passed  through  the  doors  of  America?  Do 
you  know  that  every  year  one  million  people  enter 
the  gates  of  this  Republic?  Such  a  movement  of 
population  is  unprecedented  in  the  history  of  the 
world! 

Every  civilized  nation  has  a  part  in  the  great 
tide  of  immigration  to  America.  The  commercial 
progress  of  the  United  States  has  become  the  beacon 
light  to  success  for  every  victim  of  adverse  circum- 


220  WINNING  ORATIONS 

stances.  As  the  great  mass  of  eager  people  crowds 
its  way  to  the  new  continent,  insane,  paupers, 
criminals  and  illiterates  creep  into  the  surging  tide, 
and  in  the  maddening  whirl  of  business  enterprise 
we  have  failed  to  guard  the  gates  against  the  in- 
creasing throng  of  undesirable  immigrants. 

Undesirable  people  are  coming  into  our  country 
in  ever  increasing  numbers,  poisoning  our  civiliza- 
tion, and  striking  at  the  very  vitals  of  our  Republic. 
No  longer  can  we  ignore  these  facts.  We  must  de- 
termine who  shall  and  who  shall  not  come  to  take 
up  his  abode  in  our  land.  The  time  has  come  when 
we  must  guard  our  liberties  and  protect  our  civili- 
zation; when  we  must  place  further  restrictions  on 
our  present  immigration. 

From  an  intelligent  perspective  of  the  question, 
there  are  to  be  seen  three  distinct  and  separate 
phases:  the  racial,  the  social  and  the  economic. 
First,  then,  the  racial  aspect.  Until  1882,  the 
streams  of  immigration  arose  largely  in  northern 
Europe.  These  immigrants  were  blended  by  the 
ties  of  freedom  into  a  race,  strong  physically  and 
intellectually — the  American.  The  new  race  sacri- 
ficed life  for  the  possession  and  maintenance  of 
home  and  certain  religious  and  political  standards. 
It  conquered  nations.  It  built  up  a  democracy  of 
truth  and  right.  It  developed  a  national  character, 
moral,  wholesome,  and  ambitious.  Its  ideal  was 
freedom  for  all,  the  brotherhood  of  man. 

Suddenly  there  broke  in  upon  this  progress  and 
harmony  a  race  of  people  inferior  in  mind  and  body, 
a  race  that  had  never  known  self-government.  There 
came  with  them  illiteracy,  pauperism,  criminality, 
low  standards  of  living.  Immigration  from  south- 
ern Europe  increased  ten  fold;  while  that  from 
northern  Europe  decreased  four  fold.  In  a  brief 
space  of  time,  the  old  or  desirable  immigration 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  221 

ended,  and  the  period  of  the  new  or  undesirable  im- 
migration was  ushered  in. 

The  hopeful  attitude  generally  taken  toward 
this  invasion  is  that  the  seething  of  the  "melting 
pot"  will  remove  the  dross  and  produce  an  article 
just  as  good,  if  not  better,  than  the  old.  This  at- 
titude carries  with  it  the  qualification  that  should 
we  not  succeed  with  the  parents,  the  public  school 
will  succeed  with  the  children.  But  the  tendency 
of  the  majority  of  our  immigrants  is  to  settle  in 
racial  groups.  The  child  finds  in  his  new  home 
the  same  conditions  as  in  his  former  home;  the  same 
examples,  the  same  companions.  When  a  child  is 
reared  in  environments  which  are  in  harmony  with 
his  hereditary  instincts,  public  school  education  can 
not  mold  new  traits  of  character.  Then,  as  in 
Austria-Hungary,  different  races  will  live  side  by 
side  never  wholly  merging  into  a  definite  national 
type. 

The  problem  now  is  how  to  unite  into  one  people 
a  congeries  of  races.  Is  this  within  our  ability?  Can 
we  assimilate  these  manifold  races  from  beyond  the 
seas?  Can  we  make  them  real  Americans?  Not  un- 
til we  have  made  them  more  receptive  to  intellectual 
enlightenment;  not  until  we  have  formed  some  better 
means  for  distribution  and  assimilation;  not  until 
we  have  made  drastic  changes  in  our  laws  for  the 
restriction  of  immigration;  not  until  then,  can  we 
expect  to  have  again  a  pure  American  race. 

Important  as  we  consider  the  racial  side  of  the 
immigration  problem,  even  more  vital  is  the  social 
aspect.  It  is  wrapped  in  the  alien  habits  and  ideals 
of  our  thirty  millions  of  immigrants.  The  pages 
of  American  history  are  stained  with  the  blood  of 
crime;  crime,  fifty  per  cent  of  which,  according  to 
the  Census  Reports,  is  due  to  foreigners.  The  im- 
migration commissioner,  in  his  annual  report,  de- 


222  WINNING  ORATIONS 

plores  the  fact  that  when  an  Italian  dies  he  leaves 
as  his  only  baggage  a  stiletto.  Strange  to  think 
we  harbor  a  class  of  immigrants  whose  sole  com- 
panion is  a  knife!  Strange  to  think  we  harbor  a 
class  of  immigrants  whose  children,  according  to 
John  R.  Commons  of  the  University  of  Wisconsin, 
are  twice  as  criminal  as  their  parents. 

Insanity  and  disease  have  also  produced  marked 
effects  upon  our  society.  With  the  advent  of  the 
period  of  new  immigration  our  insanity  increased 
from  twenty-eight  to  thirty-eight  per  cent.  Senator 
Lodge  of  Massachusetts  says  of  the  thirty-five 
thousand  persons  in  the  asylums  of  New  York,  forty- 
seven  per  cent  are  foreigners.  It  was  the  immi- 
grant, when  the  yellow  fever  epidemic  raged  in  New 
Orleans  in  1905,  who  was  so  troublesome  to  the 
physician.  It  was  the  immigrant  who  introduced  the 
dread  eye  disease,  trachoma,  into  the  Manhattan 
schools.  It  was  the  immigrant  who  spread  the  bu- 
bonic plague  on  the  Pacific  coast. 

Many  social  evils  are  due  to  illiteracy.  Social 
institutions  depend  for  their  existence  upon  the 
ability  of  men  to  exchange  ideas  and  act  together 
intelligently  for  common  purposes.  Ignorant  of  any 
art  or  culture,  without  refinement,  thirty  per  cent 
of  our  immigrants  bring  with  them  the  superstition 
of  ignorance.  Three  hundred  thousand  illiterate  for- 
eigners settle  in  our  midst  every  year!  Fifty  per 
cent  of  the  people  in  the  slums  of  our  great  cities 
are  from  the  delinquent  classes  of  southern  Europe — 
the  classes  that  have  fallen  into  the  lower  strata 
of  civilization. 

Do  you  wonder  that  our  social  conditions  are 
so  deplorable?  Do  you  wonder  that  insanity  and 
disease  are  so  widespread?  Do  you  wonder  that 
crime  is  so  prevalent  in  our  society?  These  are 
circumstances  which  must  be  altered!  Will  our 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  223 

brave  loyal  sons  of  the  United  States  stand  by  and 
behold  such  conditions?  Under  what  obligation  are 
we  to  receive  the  burden  of  the  world's  delinquents? 
Awake!  Ye  Sons  of  America!  Defend  your  rights 
and  your  liberties! 

Undoubtedly  the  most  vital  reason  for  the  re- 
striction of  immigration  is  the  economic;  a  reason 
which  involves  the  great  mass  of  American  work- 
ing men;  a  reason  which  affects  the  entire  economic 
life  of  this  Republic.  In  the  investigations  of  the 
Congressional  Immigration  Commission,  it  was 
found  that  there  was  an  oversupply  of  unskilled  labor 
in  basic  industries.  The  Commission  reported  that 
this  condition  demanded  immediate  legislation  re- 
stricting the  further  admission  of  that  class  of  labor. 
The  labor  market  of  America  is  overcrowded.  The 
wage  has  become  lower  in  proportion  to  the  cost  of 
living;  immigrant  workmen  are  flooding  our  indus- 
tries, and  the  American,  because  he  can  not  and 
will  not  compete  with  such  a  class  of  cheap  labor, 
is  being  crowded  out. 

The  Chinese  Exclusion  Bill  was  passed  because 
that  race  was  lowering  the  rate  of  wages  and  the 
standard  of  living  on  the  Pacific  coast.  California 
is  agitating  the  Alien  Land  Bill  because  the  Japan- 
ese are  attempting  to  gain  possession  of  large  tracts 
of  land  in  that  State.  When  the  immigration  com- 
mission investigated  two  hundred  different  com- 
munities in  the  manufacturing  districts  of  the  east, 
they  found  two  hundred  communities  overcrowded 
with  unwholesome  and  illiterate  unskilled  laborers. 
The  annual  average  earnings  of  a  foreigner  in  the 
Pennsylvania  anthracite  region  was  found  to  be 
$396.  Yet  many  supported  families  and  lived  in 
such  circumstances  as  to  save  money.  In  1907  there 
was  remitted  to  Europe  through  immigrant  banks 
alone  $141,000,000.00. 


224  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Far  be  it  from  any  American  citizen  to  raise 
his  voice  against  that  kind  of  immigration,  that 
from  the  north  of  Europe,  in  whose  veins  runs  the 
Anglo-Saxon  and  the  Celtic  blood.  From  those 
nationalities  have  sprung  scions  whose  names  stand 
high  on  the  roll  of  honor.  They  have  left  the  im- 
print of  their  useful  activity  on  the  development  of 
every  State  in  the  Union.  Welcome!  Thrice  Wel- 
come! 

We  are  not  trying  to  keep  out  those,  inspired 
by  the  love  of  liberty,  seeking  greater  social,  edu- 
cational or  religious  advantages,  but  we  are  trying 
to  safeguard  our  liberties,  protect  our  institutions 
2nd  prevent  this  nation  from  becoming  the  dump- 
ing ground  for  the  unfit  and  criminal  hordes  of  the 
Old  World 

"O,  Liberty,  White  Goddess,  is  it  well 
To  leave  the  gates  unguarded  ?     On  thy  breast 
Fold  Sorrow's  children,  soothe  the  hurts  of  fate, 
Lift  the  downtrodden,  but  with  hand  of  steel 
Stay   those   who   to   thy    sacred    portals   come 
To  waste  the  gift  of   freedom :    Have   a  care 
Lest  from  thy  brow  the  clustered  stars  be  torn 
And  trampled   in  the  dust." 

The  time  has  come  when  we  must  choose.  Shall 
we  have  American  or  immigrant  labor?  Shall  we 
have  a  high  or  a  low  standard  of  living?  Shall  we 
have  industrial  peace  or  industrial  war?  Shall  the 
American  or  the  immigrant  reign?  God  gave  us 
this  land!  It  is  ours  to  rule!  The  life-blood  of  a 
million  people  paid  for  its  preservation!  May  the 
curse  of  our  fathers  rest  upon  us  if  we  throw  away 
the  heritage  of  the  past. 

We  are  face  to  face  with  a  national  problem 
of  tremendous  magnitude.  This  question  must  be 
decided  with  unbiased  judgment,  and  sentimentality 
must  be  laid  aside.  Now,  what  are  we  going  to  do? 
The  concensus  of  opinion  is  in  harmony  with  the 
idea  of  the  Immigration  Commission  that  our 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  225 

present  laws  are  "weak  and  ineffectual."  Some  plan 
must  be  adopted  that  will  provide  a  more  strict 
discrimination  between  desirable  and  undesirable 
immigrants.  There  are  many  courses  open  to  us: 
the  literacy  test,  the  admission  of  only  those  work- 
men accompanied  by  wives  or  families,  the  limiti;- 
tion  of  numbers  and  more  equal  distribution,  the 
material  increase  in  the  head  tax.  These  are  the 
most  important  of  the  suggested  plans.  However 
we  restrict,  a  greater  certainty  in  the  exclusion  of 
undesirable  immigrants  must  be  secured.  For  fif- 
teen years  the  cause  of  restriction  has  been  cham- 
pioned in  the  halls  of  congress  with  increasing  ar- 
dor; petitions  urging  restriction  are  becoming  mul- 
titudinous; in  the  last  campaign  both  the  Demo- 
cratic and  Republican  parties  advocated  further  re- 
striction. The  time  will  come — it  is  now  coming — 
when  we  shall  no  longer  "see  through  a  glass  dark- 
ly;" when  we  shall  more  fully  realize  the  necessity 
of  stemming  the  tide  of  immigration;  when  the 
Goddess  of  Liberty,  with  oustretched  arms,  will  wel- 
come a  class  of  immigrants  deserving  the  oppor- 
tunities of  a  free  land. 

We  are  striving  to  maintain  an  ideal  democracy. 
Men  of  mettle!  Men  of  grit!  Men  of  vision!  The 
possibilities  of  future  civilization  in  America  are 
"beyond  the  dreams  of  men."  Patriotic,  liberty-lov- 
ing America  of  the  future  is  the  land  that  holds  the 
hope  of  humanity.  It  behooves  every  loyal  Ameri- 
can citizen  to  help  guard  the  gates  against  an  in- 
discriminate immigration,  which  threatens  to  under- 
mine our  social  and  economic  structure. 


TWENTY-SEVENTH  CONTEST  (1914) 
FROM  FAME  TO  INFAMY 

(SAMUEL  MARBLE.  DAKOTA  WESLEYAN) 


The  year  1780  marked  the  crisis  of  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution.  Armies  had  been  sacrificed,  re- 
sources had  been  exhausted,  martyr's  blood  had 
been  shed  in  the  effort  to  win  independence  and  free- 
dom, but  freedom  had  not  been  secured.  The  early 
thrill  and  fervor  of  war  had  gone,  and  as  American 
arms  sustained  repeated  defeat,  and  ultimate  failure 
seemed  imminent,  enthusiasm  and  hope  declined,  and 
zeal  gave  place  to  despair.  It  was  the  darkest 
period  of  the  war.  In  this  crucial  hour,  on  an 
autumn  night,  Benedict  Arnold  betrayed  his  home- 
land. Goaded  by  vengeful  passion,  he  secretly 
turned  traitor,  thrust  aside  his  honor,  and  made  him- 
self the  darkest  figure  in  American  history. 

He  is  called  a  "modern  Judas,"  and  at  some 
points  these  two  were  quite  similar.  Both  men 
might  have  been  honored  throughout  the  world,  for 
both  had  opportunities  for  the  highest  public  serv- 
ice. Both  had  commanding  abilities,  both  were  well 
esteemed  by  their  fellows,  both  were  strongly  moved 
by  selfish  interests,  and  both  became  traitors.  But 
Judas  was  marked  by  his  greed  for  gain;  Arnold, 
by  pride  and  ambition.  Judas  had  a  miser's  money- 
lust;  Arnold  thirsted  for  glory  and  power.  Judas 
was  crafty,  cold,  emotionless;  Arnold  was  indis- 
creet, arrogant,  passionate.  No  sunny  day  of  glad- 
ness or  service  illumines  the  life  of  Judas.  The  di- 
vine altruism  of  the  Christ  roused  in  him  no  answer- 
ing passion.  Sneering  at  Mary's  sincere  offering, 
he  could  steal  from  the  bag  entrusted  to  his  keep- 
ing, and  in  the  presence  of  sorrow  and  suffering,  or 
joy  and  gladness,  he  was  alike  unmoved.  Arnold  is 


228  WINNING  ORATIONS 

different.  Swayed  quickly  by  his  emotion,  he  is  the 
victim  of  each  passing  impulse.  The  passions  that 
whirl  and  boil  in  his  blood  make  him  erratic  and 
reckless.  In  floods  of  emotion  he  is  swept  from  his 
moorings,  he  is  not  his  own  master,  his  will  is  gone. 
But  to  both  men  comes  the  crisis,  when  the  final 
battle  is  fought,  and  the  outcome  marks  destiny. 
They  emerge  from  the  test,  traitors  both;  their 
lives  have  the  same  deformity,  and  they  go  hand  in 
hand  through  the  ages,  comrades  in  infamy. 

Although  his  life  ended  darkly,  Arnold's  services 
before  he  turned  traitor  can  hardly  be  over-rated. 
When  he  checked  the  British  at  Saratoga,  it  meant 
salvation  for  young  America.  As  yet  no  European 
power  had  come  forward  to  aid  the  colonies.  Nations 
regarded  doubtfully  this  new,  untried  America,  with 
her  twelve  hundred  miles  of  unprotected  seacoast,  her 
scattered  population  of  less  than  four  millions,  her 
four  hundred  thousand  square  miles  of  territory  to 
defend,  and  her  pitifully  small  fighting  force  of  fifty 
thousand  men.  But  with  the  defeat  of  Burgoyne, 
the  attitude  of  Europe  changed.  Spain,  Holland, 
and  France,  soon  recognized  the  colonies  as  an  in- 
dependent nation,  and  France  promised  to  send  them 
aid.  "No  military  event,"  says  the  historian  Creasy, 
"has  exercised  greater  influence  on  the  future  for- 
tunes of  mankind,  than  this  defeat  of  Burgoyne." 
And  this  victory,  classed  as  one  of  the  fifteen  de- 
cisive battles  in  the  history  of  the  world,  was  made 
possible  by  Benedict  Arnold. 

Traitor  though  he  became,  he  once  was  counted 
the  soul  of  honor.  Prior  to  his  days  at  West  Point, 
no  man  had  questioned  his  patriotism.  Quebec  and 
Champlain  were  unparallel.  No  soldier  exhibited 
greater  bravery  on  the  battle  field  than  Arnold. 
And  his  was  the  genius  for  leadership.  Behold  him 
at  Saratoga,  where  the  jealousy  of  Gen.  Gates  had 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  229 

deprived  him  of  his  command!  With  no  authority 
even  to  fight,  much  less  to  give  orders,  Arnold 
watched  with  excited  spirit  the  course  of  battle  from 
afar.  His  frame  thrilled  to  frenzy;  glory  beckoned 
him  to  the  field.  Stirred  to  madness  by  the  din  of 
battle,  he  leaped  on  his  horse  and  rode  to  the  head 
of  his  old  command  amid  welcoming  shouts  and 
cheers.  Dominant  on  the  instant,  reckless  in  the 
thickest  of  the  fight,  he  ordered  a  charge  at  the  ene- 
my's center.  Like  a  whirlwind  he  swept  the  British 
works,  cleared  them  at  a  single  assault,  routed  the 
broken,  disordered  lines,  and  gained  the  point  com- 
manding the  entire  British  position,  and  then,  just 
at  the  moment  of  victory,  fell  bleeding  upon  the 
field.  O  pity  that  the  bullet  which  here  shattered 
his  leg  had  not  found  his  heart  instead!  Dying  at 
Saratoga,  he  had  been  forever  a  nation's  hero;  his 
life  had  ended  in  a  blaze  of  glory,  resplendent  with 
a  dignity  beyond  that  of  kings.  But  he  lived,  and 
living  passed  from  fame  to  infamy. 

Not  all  men  however,  condemn  Arnold  for  his 
treason.  In  these  later  days  there  have  arisen, 
especially  among  the  English,  apologists  for  his 
crime.  They  say  storms  of  emotion  and  thoughts 
of  revenge  had  no  place  in  his  soul.  Patriotism  sup- 
plied his  motive,  and  the  betrayal  came  as  an  act  of 
service,  given  in  the  truest  devotion.  They  remind 
us  that  after  the  war  began,  New  England  first 
dreamed  of  freedom.  At  that  time,  her  intense  ardor 
seemed  to  bring  independence  within  easy  reach. 
But  six  years  of  fighting  had  brought  no  gains,  and 
her  dreams  were  still  only  dreams.  Then  the  ragged 
soldiers  lost  hope.  Supplies  were  gone,  resources 
exhausted,  suffering  men  were  calling  for  peace. 
England  now  offered  all  and  more  than  all  that  was 
asked  when  the  war  began.  But  a  mere  half-dozen 
stubborn  men,  in  places  of  high  authority,  refused 


230  WINNING  ORATIONS 

the  terms  and  prolonged  the  fight,  while  homes  and 
towns  throughout  New  England  prayed  and  cried 
for  peace.  Why  prolong  the  struggle?  Why  not 
end  the  warfare?  Why  not  terminate  the  needless 
work  of  destruction,  and  stop  the  profitless  shedding 
of  blood?  It  was  with  this  purpose  that  Arnold 
planned  treason.  He  took  command  at  West  Point, 
intending  to  betray  it,  make  the  cause  utterly  hope- 
less, "end  the  war  without  further  bloodshed,"  and 
bring  peace  to  his  homeland.  Thus  apologists  inform 
us  that  patriotism  induced  Arnold's  treason. 

Can  this  view  be  consistent  with  the  ascertain- 
able  facts?  Have  American's  misjudged  Arnold? 
Considering,  we  pause,  lest  we  condemn  too  quickly. 

Had  Arnold  not  suffered  humiliation  before  the 
betrayal  of  West  Point,  Americans  would  find  it 
less  hard  to  believe  that  his  motive  was  to  bring 
peace.  But  it  must  be  admitted  that  Arnold  had 
suffered  injustice.  Congress  had  given  him  meager 
credit  for  his  services  at  Saratoga.  His  command 
had  been  in  one  instance,  unjustly  taken  away. 
And  later  he  had  been  court-martialed  for  only  a 
minor  offense,  and  received  public  reprimand. 
Stung  by  this  repeated  injustice,  suffering  keenly 
from  wounded  pride,  the  haughty  soldier  only  too 
probably  harbored  thought  of  revenge. 

Arnold,  like  most  proud  spirits,  was  sensitive 
and  resentful.  Every  injustice  provoked  his  wrath, 
each  injury  roused  him  to  vengeance.  Headstrong 
and  impetuous,  he  could  not  endure  restraint  nor 
give  pardon  to  one  who  had  wronged  him.  His  whole 
life  was  one  of  stormy  passion,  reckless  and  wild  as 
a  foaming  sea.  Unlikely  was  he  to  betray  West 
Point  from  an  honest  motive,  when  the  deed  offered 
no  chance  for  revenge. 

Usually,  when  one  experiences  an  honest  change 
of  conviction,  neither  money  nor  the  thought  of  office 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  231 

have  influenced  his  meditations.  But  Arnold,  upon 
his  change  of  conviction,  received  at  once  from  the 
British,  a  sum  of  money  sufficient  to  cancel  his  debts, 
and  in  addition  the  highest  office  he  ever  held  in  his 
life.  Can  it  be  that  his  change  of  conviction  was 
honest?  Can  it  be  that  these  big  rewards  came  as 
a  gift,  and  not  also  as  a  bribe?  Furthermore,  it 
would  seem,  that  had  Arnold  believed  the  Colonial 
cause  was  hopeless,  he  would  have  stated  this  fact 
first  of  all  to  his  friends,  and  advised  that  the  fight 
be  abandoned.  But  neither  Washington  nor  any 
other  American  knew  that  Arnold  had  ceased  to  hope. 
Would  patriotism  lead  him  to  tell  his  secret  fears 
to  the  enemy? 

And  his  later  conduct  forbids  the  thought  that 
patriotism  led  him.  If  he  had  planned  for  his 
country's  welfare,  then  why  did  he  not  withdraw 
from  the  war  when  he  knew  that  his  plan  had  failed? 
But  instead  of  withdrawing,  he  takes  arms  against 
the  Colonies.  No  foe  could  work  more  destruction. 
Black  clouds  of  smoke  from  homes  and  villages  mark 
his  progress  in  the  daylight,  and  at  midnight  his 
glowing  bonfires  shine  red  against  the  sky.  He 
leaves  desolation  everywhere,  and  works  as  a  most 
bitter  enemy.  Would  patriotism  lead  him  to  de- 
vastate his  homeland?  No!  This  is  the  work  of 
one  seeking  revenge,  led  captive  by  the  frenzy  of 
hate!  And  notwithstanding  the  pleas  of  apologists, 
the  verdict  of  the  past  century  is  accepted  for  our 
own:  Arnold  was  a  traitor. 

The  war  over,  his  work  of  vengeance  ends.  But 
do  you  know  revenge,  how  it  allures  and  promises, 
then  takes  away  the  pleasure  and  fills  the  heart  with 
aching  and  remorse?  Then  he  who  so  lately  planned 
suffering  for  others,  finds  it  strangely  return  to  him- 
self. He  brings  torture  and  misery  upon  his  victim- 
but  the  whirlpool  of  destruction  he  created  catches 


232  WINNING  ORATIONS 

and  draws  him  to  his  own  doom,  and  as  the  shadows 
grow  darker  and  denser  about  him,  he  sees  all  too 
late,  the  mockery  of  revenge. 

And  this  monster  Revenge,  the  alluring,  agree- 
able giver  of  promises,  the  deceiver,  the  "scoffing 
demon,  whose  smile  is  a  stab,  and  whose  laugh  is 
an  infernal  sneer,"  made  Arnold  his  victim.  In  glee 
he  takes  the  joy  from  his  life,  and  gives  him  in- 
tense misery;  brands  him  with  crime  and  robs  him 
of  honor;  drives  him  forever  apart  from  his  fellows 
in  torture  and  blackest  shame.  And  the  victim,  in 
silent  suffering,  faces  a  world  where  honor,  and 
hope,  and  friendship,  are  dead.  Behold  him  in  Lon- 
don after  the  war,  the  most  scoffed  at,  yet  most 
pitiable  of  men,  barred  from  society,  shunned  by 
acquaintances,  greeted  with  insults,  answered  with 
sneers,  deserted  by  friends  and  by  family,  cast  out, 
dishonored,  alone!  Too  late,  he  sees  the  full  extent 
of  his  blunder  and  his  crime. 

When  the  joy  of  fellowship  is  removed,  life 
loses  its  brightness.  The  soul  moves  in  the  joyless 
dark,  the  heart  is  crushed  in  despondency.  Arnold 
saw  a  universe  full  of  joys  for  others,  but  for  him — 
empty.  His  fate  was  to  live  with  hope,  no  wish, 
no  ambition,  seeking  only  peace.  Peace!  The  word 
haunts  him  like  a  passion.  It  takes  him  back  across 
the  Atlantic.  Here  he  has  seen  it.  He  has  felt  it 
in  the  handgrasp  of  Warren  and  of  Washington.  It 
shines  in  the  eyes  of  his  countrymen,  it  lives  in  the 
hearts  of  friends.  Peace!  It  floods  his  soul  in  even 
the  battle's  confusion.  He  recalls  the  fight  at 
Quebec,  the  steep  rocks,  the  dark  night,  the  falling 
snow!  He  rides  the  waves  of  old  Champlaine  once 
more  leader  in  a  mighty  battle.  Peace!  The  word 
obliterates  his  misery,  the  days  of  his  integrity  re- 
turn. He  leads  the  charge  at  Saratoga,  scatters 
the  red-coats,  falls  headlong  covered  with  blood, 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  233 

but  a  victor  still!  Peace!  But  forever  into  his  mind 
come  the  memories  of  West  Point,  the  secret  plot- 
ting, the  betrayal,  the  flight,  the  shame,  the  days 
of  warfare  that  end  in  misery.  He  looks  about  to 
behold  a  world  of  bitterness.  Scorn  peers  upon  him 
from  every  eye,  every  tongue  heaps  shame  upon 
him.  Mankind  are  void  of  all  godly  attributes. 
Love  is  dead.  Hate  rules  supreme.  Peace?  There 
is  no  peace! 

"How  are  the  mighty  fallen!"  Victim  of  an  un- 
worthy impulse,  Arnold  passed  from  glory  to  ig- 
nominy. His  was  a  life  of  wild  emotion,  good  and 
bad  by  turns,  resplendent  with  heroic  deeds  and 
brilliant  sacrifices,  but  erratic  and  full  of  faults;  one 
that  rendered  noblest  service,  and  contributed  rich- 
ly to  American  freedom;  but  it  ended  in  a  London 
garret,  in  shame  and  infamy. 


TWENTY-EIGHTH  CONTEST  (1915) 
"CHILDREN  OF  THE  GLOOM" 

(CLEMENT   THOMAS,   HURON   COLLEGE) 


The  November  evening  was  damp  and  chill, 
and  the  dark  mist  hung  like  a  pall  over  the  Pennsyl- 
vania City.  The  busy  workers  had  long  since  sought 
the  shelter  of  their  homes.  Now  and  then  an  auto 
sped  along  the  street,  bearing  its  haughty  silk- 
gowned  occupants  to  the  opera  or  to  the  dance.  An 
occasional  pedestrian  hurried  along  as  if  lured  on 
by  the  lights  that  blinked  at  him  through  the  fog. 
The  noise  and  glare  of  the  glass  factory  strove  in 
vain  to  penetrate  the  mist  to  where  the  burly  police- 
man paced  his  measured  beat.  The  lonely  guardian 
of  the  night  had  only  been  on  duty  for  an  hour,  but 
already  he  was  shivering  with  the  cold,  and  he  was 
thinking  of  his  comfortable  little  home.  Hark! 
What  was  that?  A  faint  coughing  from  out  the 
gloom.  There  it  is  again,  he  must  investigate. 
There  huddled  up  in  the  corner  of  a  porch  lay  a 
wan  poorly  clad  little  figure,  but  oh!  that  cough. 
"Say,  Mr.  Policeman,  don't  take  me  away,  I'm  tired, 
just  let  me  sleep  here.  Home?  Ten  blocks  away, 
and  oh!  I'm  too  tired.  Only  one  room,  ten  of  us 
kids,  and  no  fire  nor  nothin'  tonight,  tain't  worth 
it,  cop.  Let  me  sleep  here.  Yes,  in  the  glass  fac- 
tory, worked  twelve  hours,  running  all  the  time. 
Been  there  two  years  and  more — awful  hot  in  there, 
but  ugh!  it's  cold  here.  My  birthday  tomorrow, 
yes,  just  ten;  getting  old,  ain't  I?  I'm  tired,  just 
let  me  sleep.  Say,  Mr.  Policeman  is  them  the  angels 
the  mission  lady  talked  about?  My  birthday  too. 
They're  coming,  Good-bye,  cop,  I'm  going." 

Poor  child!  Ten  years  old,  isn't  big  enough  for 
six,  but  his  face  looks  old  enough  for  one  double 


236  WINNING  ORATIONS 

his  age.  Those  eyes!  how  sunken,  how  beseeching 
in  their  death  stare.  Tenderly  the  big  policeman 
closed  the  weary  eyelids,  and  lifted  up  the  frail 
body  in  his  arms.  Two  big  tears  rolled  down  his 
cheeks,  for  he  had  four  little  ones  himself  at  home. 
He  strode  forward  with  his  burden,  and  was  lost 
in  the  mist. 

It  wasn't  much  that  had  happened — it  had  oc- 
cured  many  times  before — it  would  occur  again. 
Away  in  the  intense  heat  of  the  glass  factory  were 
hundreds  more  of  them,  little  fellows  of  tender  age 
doing  the  night  shift,  hurrying  and  scurrying  in  the 
bright  glare  of  the  furnace.  There  were  many  just 
as  frail,  just  as  feeble,  but  more  tenacious  in  their 
hold  upon  their  miserable  existence.  But  they  can- 
not stand  it  much  longer,  their  turn  will  come,  who 
knows  how  soon?  for  the  modern  Moloch  must  be 
appeased  with  the  blood  of  the  innocents. 

We  turn  to  Dixie  land,  with  its  broad  white 
acres  and  its  dark  cotton  mills,  and  we  are  still 
haunted  by  the  little  tired  overworked  creatures. 
Under  the  hot  Southern  sun  they  toil  from  morn  till 
eve  gathering  the  white  fluffy  cotton.  Some  of  them 
are  mere  babies,  but  they  toddle  along,  footsore  and 
weary  and  stooping  beneath  the  weight  of  their 
burdens.  But  more  heart-rending  still  is  the  squalid 
lot  of  the  little  workers  in  the  great  grim  factories. 
Hour  after  hour,  they  toil,  toil,  toil  in  the  dark 
damp  atmosphere  of  the  ill-lighted  factory.  Out 
in  the  sunshine,  everything  is  bright  and  joyous, 
the  green  fields  are  smiling  and  the  happy  birds 
are  singing,  but  in  vain  for  these  children  does  na- 
ture call.  At  dawn,  they  trudge  their  way  to  the 
gloomy  prison-house,  they  heed  not  the  thrush's 
morning  greeting  not  the  welcoming  smile  of  the 
flowers.  The  heavy  door  bangs  behind  them,  and 
shuts  the  light  and  the  song  from  the  mill,  and  from 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  237 

their  young  lives  it  blots  out  the  joy  and  the  sun- 
shine, their  rightful  heritage.  Day  in  and  day  out, 
month  after  month  in  weary  sequence,  the  little 
toilers  of  the  night  pursue  their  monotonous  round — 

The  children  of  the  gloom, 
'Mid  the  thunder  of  the  loom, 

Tacking,   tying, 

Flitting,  flying, 

Through  the  shadows  of  the  gloom, 
•Mid  the  thunder  of  the  loom. 

Sobbing,  sighing, 

Dropping,  dying. 
The  children  of  the  gloom. 

We  are  now  on  the  Gulf,  looking  out  on  the 
dark  waters  of  the  Atlantic,  on  the  never-ending 
chain  of  foam-tipped  waves.  Not  far  from  where 
the  breakers  dash  in  sportive  glee,  the  low  dark 
oyster  sheds  lie  almost  hidden,  as  if  ashamed  to 
lift  up  their  heads  for  the  tragedy  that  is  behind 
their  walls.  Again  we  are  faced  with  the  now 
familiar  spectacle  of  the  pale  pinched  faces  of  little 
children  working  for  dear  life  canning  oysters  and 
shrimps.  With  what  pitiful  eyes  of  wonder  do  they 
look  up  for  a  moment  as  we  enter.  The  little  hands 
are  torn  and  bleeding,  and  the  poison  that  comes 
from  the  heads  of  the  shrimps  eats  holes  in  the 
baby  fingers.  Every  year,  thousands  and  thousands 
of  these  children,  underfed  and  underclothed,  are 
brought  by  merciless  padrones  to  work  long  weary 
hours  in  the  canning  sheds,  doing  work  that  a  child 
should  never  be  permitted  to  do.  Ignorant,  ill- 
nourished,  undersized,  cheated  and  fleeced  at  every 
turn,  these  mites  are  herded  about  the  country  like 
so  many  sheep  or  cattle.  They  live  like  cattle  too, 
crowded  together  in  miserable  squalid  shacks, 
dingy  and  filthy  beyond  description.  There's  no 
chance  for  cleanliness,  no  room  for  decency — they 
eat  a  little,  sleep  a  little,  and  work  long  weary  hours 
at  their  unhappy  toil.  Aha!  Padrone  has  a  new 
victim  today,  a  bright  little  girl  of  some  eleven 


238  WINNING  ORATIONS 

years,  easily  discernible  by  the  clean  apron  and 
the  bright  face  from  which  the  ruddy  glow  has 
not  yet  been  driven.  She  has  come  from  the  land 
of  the  mountains,  with  their  purple  blossomed 
heather.  A  smile,  then  a  shadow  passes  over  her 
face,  then  she  heaves  a  sigh  of  longing  as  she  thinks 
of  the  laughing  flowers  which  have  been  her  play- 
mates, of  the  happy  home  where  her  mother  lived. 
Ah!  that  she  should  have  come  to  this.  Her  face 
is  pure  as  the  mountain  air  which  once  she  breathed, 
as  pure  as  the  flowers  which  once  with  childish  glee 
she  made  into  garlands  to  deck  her  brow.  Pure? 
Yes,  but  for  how  long?  See,  padrone  already  turns 
towards  her  with  a  lustful  leer,  and  before  she  is 
able  to  understand,  this  chaste  child  of  joy  will  have 
been  robbed  of  what  can  never  be  given  back  to 
her.  God!  shall  she  be  to  blame  if  she  be  forced 
to  seek  the  harlot's  booth? 

Thousands  and  thousands  of  these  tragedies  oc- 
cur in  this  country  year  after  year  in  unceasing 
rotation.  Men  and  women  of  America,  do  you  know 
it  has  been  computed  that  about  two  million  chil- 
dren are  engaged  in  something  like  two  hundred 
trades — children  varying  in  age  down  to  mere  ba- 
bies of  four  and  five?  It  has  been  charged  that 
this  child  labor  question  has  been  overestimated, 
that  the  picture  of  conditions  has  been  overdrawn. 
No,  a  thousand  times  no.  We  have  been  too  callous, 
too  hard-hearted,  too  indifferent  to  the  piteous  cry 
of  the  toiling  multitudes  of  little  children.  Look 
at  the  thousands  of  them  working  in  the  murky 
begrimed  atmosphere  of  the  coal-washers,  until 
bruised  and  broken  they  are  thrown  on  the  scrap- 
heap  of  humanity,  then  say  it  is  overestimated.  Be- 
hold them  in  crowds  running  our  city  streets,  delv- 
ing in  the  hideous  wretchedness  of  overcrowded 
tenements,  stumbling  through  the  mire  of  a  New 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  239 

Jersey  cranberry  bog,  working  in  nearly  every  case 
for  miserably  low  wages,  through  intolerably  long 
hours,  until  all  energy  and  life  is  sapped,  and  the 
little  toilers  out  of  sheer  weariness  sleep  beside  their 
untasted  food.  How  well  do  you  know  the  harm 
of  the  deadly  nicotine,  yet  see  the  children  working 
day  after  day  in  the  foul  humid  atmosphere  of  to- 
bacco factories,  until  their  bodies  become  thoroughly 
saturated  with  the  death-dealing  drug.  See  for 
yourselves,  learn  for  yourselves  the  indescribable 
hideousness  of  their  surroundings,  the  monstrous 
injustices  imposed  upon  them,  and  then  say  our 
outcry  is  overdone.  Oh!  when  shall  we  realize  the 
immensity  of  this  problem. 

Think,  you  citizens  of  this  proud  country,  with 
all  its  prodigious  resources  and  boundless  promise, 
think  of  the  unspeakable  tragedy  that  is  daily, 
hourly  being  enacted  on  your  own  hearth.  You 
boast  of  your  education,  yet  here  at  your  very  door 
are  hundreds  of  thousands  of  children  denied  the 
right  to  know  and  to  learn,  growing  up  in  ignorance 
and  darkness.  You  sing  with  heart  and  soul, 
"America,  the  land  of  the  free,  the  home  of  the 
brave,"  while  in  your  very  midst  are  these  little 
ones  to  whom  the  song  is  but  a  mockery  and  a  lie. 
Do  you  not  pride  yourselves  on  your  humanity? 
Then  think  of  the  little  bodies,  maimed  and  marred, 
daily  thrown  on  the  scrapheap.  Think  of  the  tor- 
tured children,  robbed  of  the  joy  and  sunshine  of 
childhood's  days,  of  the  little  workers,  footsore  and 
weary,  delving  by  day  and  by  night,  of  bleeding 
baby  hands,  of  pale  weary  consumptive  little  toilers, 
the  mothers  and  fathers  of  the  next  generation. 
Think  of  all  this  needless,  useless  suffering,  and 
think  of — your  humanity. 

But  are  there  not  Child  Labor  Laws,  you  ask 
To  be  sure  there  are,  covering  some  of  the  cases, 


240  WINNING  ORATIONS 

but  many  of  these  things  are  done  in  spite  of  legis- 
lation. What  is  needed  is  that  the  national  con- 
science shall  be  aroused,  that  public  opinion  shall 
become  too  strong  for  such  practices  to  survive,  that 
you  should  express  your  mind  with  no  uncertain 
voice.  Oh!  cannot  you  hear  the  piteous  wailing  of 
the  children,  cannot  you  see  their  appealing  eyes? 
Look  at  that  window — what  do  you  see?  The  sky 
and  the  stars.  Nay,  but  nearer — from  that  glass 
cannot  you  see  the  pallied  faces  of  the  children  that 
made  it?  In  your  fires,  cannot  you  see  the  frail 
forms  of  the  little  ones  holding  out  their  feeble 
arms  imploring  your  help?  In  the  clothing  that  you 
wear  cannot  you  feel  the  touch  of  the  little  fingers 
that  have  handled  them,  fingers  clinging  to  you  in 
silent  but  eloquent  prayers  for  you  to  release  them 
from  their  bondage?  Why,  the  very  linen  that  you 
use  is  but  a  shroud  for  the  baby  toilers  of  the  gloom. 
You,  whose  forefathers  came  to  these  shores 
and  planted  the  flag  of  freedom,  of  justice  and  of 
mercy,  will  you  today  allow  that  flag  to  be  sullied  by 
the  stain  that  is  now  upon  it?  You  whose  fathers 
and  grandfathers  shed  their  blood  for  the  noble 
cause  of  liberty,  will  you  not  rise  again  today  and 
once  more  drive  from  your  land  the  curse  that  they 
abolished?  They  fought  for  the  blacks,  you  are 
called  upon  to  fight  for  your  own  children,  "Flesh  of 
your  flesh,  blood  of  your  blood." 

"They  lock  up  with  their  pale  and  sunken  faces, 

And  their  look  is  dread  to  see  .... 
'How  long',  they  say,  'how  long,  O  cruel  nation'  .... 

And  the  child's  sob  in  the  silence  curses  deeper 
Than  the  strong  man  in  his  wrath." 


TWENTY-NINTH  CONTEST  (1916) 
"THE  KNIGHT  AMONG  THE  NATIONS" 

(SIMON  P.  NELSON.  YANKTON  COLLEGE) 


"I  am  here  by  command  of  silent  lips  to  speak 
once  and  for  all  upon  the  Cuban  situation.  I  shall 
endeavor  to  be  honest,  conservative  and  just.  I 
have  no  purpose  to  stir  the  public  passion  to  any 
action  not  necessary  and  imperative  to  meet  the 
duties  and  necessities  of  American  responsibility, 
Christian  humanity,  and  national  honor."  These 
words,  spoken  in  the  halls  of  Congress  in  1898  by 
Senator  John  M.  Thurston,  formed  the  prelude  of 
a  plea  for  Cuba,  which  aroused  the  American  na- 
tion from  its  lethargy  and  prepared  the  way  for 
that  intervention  which  drove  the  tyranny  of  Spain 
forever  from  the  western  hemisphere  and  trans- 
formed a  downtrodden  colony  into  a  flourishing  na- 
tion. Today,  a  scant  two  decades  later,  another 
people  are  playing  the  silent  role  of  victim  and 
martyr  in  the  European  drama  of  fire  and  blood. 
I  refer  not  to  the  beleagured  Serb,  struggling  des- 
perately against  the  invasion  of  mighty  foes;  nor 
to  the  conquered  Belgian,  ground  under  the  foot 
of  an  alien  empire;  nor  to  the  bewildered  Jew,  lost 
in  the  turmoil  of  the  warring  nations.  Their 
pathetic  stories  are  being  told  by  many  tongues, 
and  the  great  heart  of  American  sympathy  is  go- 
ing out  to  them  in  their  bitter  distress.  Rather, 
would  I  bring  to  you  the  picture  of  a  people  whose 
wrongs  are  but  little  known,  whose  needs  are  all 
but  neglected.  Today,  the  spectacle  of  war-scourged 
Poland,  bleeding  on  her  fertile  plains,  makes,  as 
did  Cuba  a  score  of  years  ago,  a  moving  appeal  to 
"American  responsibility,  Christian  humanity,  and 
national  honor." 


242  WINNING  ORATIONS 

History  is  repeating  the  sad  story  of  the  cen- 
turies. Poland,  the  "Knight  Among  the  Nations", 
once  more  suffers  for  the  sake  of  others.  Again  is 
that  unfortunate  land  the  battling-ground  between 
Slav  and  Teuton.  Pause  for  a  moment,  you  who 
are  serene  and  calm  amid  the  beauty  and  plenty  of 
a  land  at  peace.  Vision,  if  you  can,  the  present 
chaos  of  Poland!  Grasp  the  significance  of  the 
fact  that  all  the  titanic  battles  on  the  Eastern  front 
have  been  fought  on  Polish  soil!  In  their  death- 
struggles  great  armies  have  swung  back  and  forth 
across  her  level  plains — Russians  from  the  east, 
Austrians  from  the  south,  Germans  from  the  north 
and  west.  All  marching  and  fighting  on  a  scale  of 
unprecedented  magnitude,  they  have  left  a  train  of 
wreck  and  desolation  beside  which  the  sufferings 
of  Belgium  and  Serbia  dwindle  into  mere  discom- 
fitures. Do  you  doubt  that  statement?  Then  read 
your  recent  press  reports  and  note  that  three  hun- 
dred thousand  Polish  children  have  died  from 
hunger;  note  that  no  outside  aid  can  reach  the 
stricken  country.  In  very  truth,  "Desolation 
broods  over  the  land,  as  the  raven  over  the  infected 
house."  But  this  is  not  all  the  story!  With  the 
warm  winds  of  summer  there  came  disease  and 
noisome  pestilence — smallpox,  typhus,  cholera.  So 
terrible  the  consequences  that  the  bullet  which 
snuffed  out  the  life  became  a  mercy.  Famine  swept 
the  land — its  weird  cry  adding  a  new  note  to  the 
dirge  of  desolation.  But  even  this  is  not  all  the 
story!  The  Poles  themselves  are  fighting;  not  for 
their  country;  not  for  their  homes  and  families,  as 
are  the  Serbs  and  Belgians;  but  at  the  behest  of 
cruel  oppressors,  and  in  separate  armies.  Some- 
times even  brother  against  brother.  If  you  would 
realize  what  this  means  then  listen  to  a  story  from 
the  European  battlefield:  A  Polish  regiment  in  the 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  243 

Russian  ranks  is  ordered  to  charge  a  line  in  Galicia. 
Boldly  they  advance,  bayonets  in  place,  shouting 
their  battle-cry.  An  Austrian  regiment  advances 
to  meet  them,  and  the  cheers  and  noise  of  battle 
ring  on  every  side.  But  as  they  come  together  they 
find  that  both  are  shouting  the  cry  of  Poland,  their 
common  country!  At  that  instant,  inspired  by  a 
common  impulse,  their  bayonets  are  lowered,  they 
fall  upon  their  knees,  and  in  their  common  language 
they  breathe  the  prayer  which  begins:  "Our 
Father,"  and  which  pleads  "Thy  Kingdom  come!" 
These  men,  kneeling  there  upon  the  desolate  plain 
of  their  Fatherland,  between  contending  armies, 
are  a  type  of  bleeding  Poland.  Her  land  is  devas- 
tated; her  homes  are  ruined;  her  men  butchered; 
her  women  ravaged;  her  children  starved.  But  in 
the  midst  of  all  these  calamities,  she  looks  to  her 
God  for  future  regeneration,  and  breathes  a  prayer 
for  His  Divine  aid  in  her  time  of  trouble. 

But  Poland's  present  is  not  her  only  voice  which 
cries  for  sympathy  and  help.  Her  past  speaks  to  us 
as  well.  Proudly  the  voice  of  Polish  history  rings 
out:  I  was  once  a  nation  among  the  nations.  Al- 
though nature  never  marked  out  my  territory  with 
the  bold  strokes  of  rivers  and  mountains — yet  for 
centuries  the  bulwarks  of  my  nationality  were 
beaten  against  in  vain  by  Tartars,  Slavs,  North- 
men, Germans,  and  Austrians.  In  the  fourteenth 
century  I  overwhelmed  those  organized  despoilers 
who  styled  themselves  "Knights  of  the  Cross"  and 
saved  Prussia  from  their  pillage.  More  than  that! 
For  centuries  I  stood  at  the  gate  of  the  Orient,  giv- 
ing my  lifeblood  for  the  preservation  of  western 
civilization  and  western  liberty.  When  the  Seljuk 
Turks  stormed  against  the  walls  of  Vienna  it  was 
my  son,  King  John  Sobieski,  who  hurled  them  back 
and  saved  all  Europe  from  the  peril  of  the  Crescent! 


244  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Well  did  I  then  deserve  that  title,  "The  Knight 
Among  the  Nations,"  bestowed  upon  me  by  a  grate- 
ful world.  But  more  than  that!  My  land  in  its 
prosperity  was  ever  the  refuge  for  the  oppressed 
of  all  the  nations.  Here  the  persecuted  Jew  found 
hearty  welcome  and  extensive  privilege.  Does 
America  boast  her  tolerance  of  the  "scattered  na- 
tion" as  a  new  thing?  I,  Poland,  exercised  that 
tolerance  before  America  was  even  dreamed  of. 
When  the  Huguenots  were  being  massacred  in  Paris, 
when  heretics  were  being  burned  in  Spain,  when 
Catholics  and  Protestants  were  alternately  being 
driven  to  the  scaffold,  when  Germany  and  Scandi- 
navian countries  were  being  drenched  in  blood  in 
the  Thirty  Years'  War — thousands  of  every  creed 
found  within  my  borders  a  haven  of  rest.  And  not 
in  religious  tolerance  alone  have  I  led  the  world! 
Far  back  in  the  dark  ages  I  dreamed  of  a  republic 
for  my  people.  I  sought  to  educate  them,  as  well. 
My  board  of  education  was  the  first  of  its  kind  in 
all  Europe.  My  sons  have  made  a  consummate  con- 
tribution to  the  arts  and  sciences.  My  heavens  are 
bright  with  a  veritable  galaxy  of  stars — the  trans- 
cendent Copernicus,  the  glorious  Chopin,  "the  sweet 
singer  of  the  piano,"  Paderewski,  and  other  great 
lovers  of  the  muses;  the  orator  Skarga,  and  that 
hero  of  liberty,  Kosciusko,  who  fought  so  nobly  for 
the  independence  of  an  alien  nation — the  American 
colonies.  But  these,  my  virtues,  seem  today  to 
avail  me  naught;  the  knight  among  the  nations  is 
now  a  stricken  knight,  and  can  only  look  to  the 
future  for  that  bright  hope  of  a  new  national  exist- 
ence! 

That  very  future  to  which  Poland  strains  with 
eager  eyes  is  another  voice  that  pleads  for  her 
regeneration  and  independence.  For  in  the  restora- 
tion of  Poland  lies  the  chief  hope  of  peace  for  war- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  245 

ridden  Europe.  If  that  tragedy  which  robbed  Poland 
of  her  nationality  more  than  a  century  ago  had  never 
been  enacted,  there  would  be  no  war  in  Europe 
today.  For  Poland,  instead  of  being  partitioned 
among  three  nations  now  at  war,  would  be  a  "buffer 
state"  between  the  Slav  and  the  Teuton,  and,  stand- 
ing firmly  on  her  broad  plains,  would  hold  the  bal-. 
ance  of  power  between  them.  And  no  peace  in 
Europe  can  be  lasting  which  does  not  resurrect 
Polish  nationality.  For  the  Poles  are  a  distinct  na- 
tion. All  efforts  of  the  Germans  to  absorb  them, 
of  the  Austrians  to  placate  them,  of  the  Russians 
to  browbeat  them,  have  been  futile  in  the  past,  and 
will  continue  to  be  so.  That  peace  which  shall  come 
at  the  end  of  this  disastrous  war  must  be  a  lasting 
peace.  It  must  have  in  it  no  conditions  which  shall 
doom  a  self-conscious  nation  to  a  hated  foreign 
yoke.  The  voice  of  Poland's  present  suffering,  her 
past  glory,  and  her  future  possibility  as  a  factor 
for  peace,  all  unite  in  pleading  for  her  regeneration 
and  independence!  Will  that  plea  be  heard?  Will 
the  cry  of  Poland  meet  with  the  response  it  so  well 
merits?  Will  her  past  glory  and  present  suffering 
as  the  "Knight  Among  the  Nations"  prove  in  vain? 
When  the  shroud  of  smoke  has  lifted  over  those 
fields  of  crimson  carnage,  what  shall  the  eye  behold? 
Shall  history  repeat  her  tragic  tale?  Shall  the 
record  of  subjection  and  oppression  continue?  Shall 
Poland  again  be  the  victim  of  lustful  greed —  the 
spoils  of  the  conquering  spoiler?  Heaven  forbid! 
May  the  God  of  justice  through  human  will  and 
quickened  conscience  rise  in  His  might  and  protect 
the  weak  of  this  earth!  In  the  councils  that  shall 
end  this  war  may  there  be  the  keen-eyed  and  far- 
seeing  statesman  who  shall  detect  the  cause  of  this 
tragedy  of  the  ages  in  the  Polish  question,  and  may 
such  statecraft  result  as  shall  remove  that  cause! 


246  WINNING  ORATIONS 

That  statesman,  clear-eyed  and  far-seeing,  should 
be  the  American  statesman.  That  statecraft  is  the 
diplomacy  of  ideals  which  our  nation  represents! 
Where  can  America  better  present  her  plea  for  hu- 
manity than  before  the  tribunal  which  shall  deter- 
mine the  fate  of  Poland?  We  answered  the  plea  of 
Cuba;  shall  we  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  bleeding  Poland? 
Thurston  pleaded  for  a  few  thousand;  today  we 
hear  the  cry  of  millions;  the  prayer  of  a  million 
mute  lips  whose  unknown  and  unmarked  graves 
fringe  the  frozen  trenches  of  deserted  battlefields; 
and  that  other  prayer  from  the  living  lips  of  thou- 
sands whose  wails  rise  hourly  from  the  desolate, 
haunted  plains  of  Poland. 

You  ask  what  such  a  new  birth  as  a  nation  would 
mean  to  the  Polish  patriot?  Listen!  They  are  giv- 
ing their  all — their  property,  their  lives — not  for 
selfish  gain,  but  in  the  hope  that  the  peace  which 
closes  this  carnage  will  restore  their  independence, 
permitting  Poland  once  more  to  take  her  place 
among  the  nations  of  the  world.  Among  the  jewels 
which  a  Polish  noblewoman  in  England  has  recently 
sacrificed  to  aid  her  stricken  countrymen  is  a  ring, 
an  old  family  heirloom — dating  from  the  time  that 
Poland's  bleeding  and  dismembered  body  was  par- 
titioned among  her  brutal  neighbors.  The  setting 
of  the  ring  is  a  miniature  coffin,  emblematic  of  Po- 
land's burial.  When  a  tiny  spring  is  touched  the 
coffin  opens  and  a  Polish  knight  in  full  regalia  with 
sword  aloft,  rises  from  this  tomb  in  which  he  slept 
since  his  country  was  dismembered.  This  is  the 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  247 

dream,  the  soothing  balm  which  the  suffering  Pole 
has  poured  into  his  wounded  heart.  The  past  has 
been  dark  with  defeat;  the  present  is  black  with 
despair;  the  future  alone  lends  a  gleam  of  hope. 
For  with  the  ending  of  this  European  conflict  may 
American  diplomacy  touch  this  hidden  spring,  caus- 
ing Poland,  "The  Knight  Among  the  Nations,"  to 
rise  Lazarus-like  from  the  dead,  and  take  its  place 
by  the  side  of  its  benefactor — a  free  and  happy 
people,  a  reunited  and  prosperous  country,  a  nation 
among  the  nations. 


THIRTIETH  CONTEST  (1917) 
THE  IDEALS  OF  THE  COMING  AGE 

(HAROLD  R.  HUSTED,  SIOUX  FALLS  COLLEGE) 


Our  ideals  determine  our  progress.  They  are 
not  achievements  in  themselves,  but  they  reveal 
tasks  to  be  performed.  They  are  not  to  be  mistaken 
for  results  already  attained,  but  they  do  serve  the 
purpose  of  inspiring  and  guiding  us  into  ever  higher 
and  richer  experiences  of  life.  It  is  psychologically 
true  that  no  life  or  community  is  likely  to  rise  higher 
than  its  own  consciously  adopted  standards  of 
thought  and  action.  We  are  now  entering  an  era 
of  social  achievement  when  mankind,  unitedly,  will 
undertake  by  organization  and  co-operation,  even 
mightier  tasks  than  ever  accomplished  before.  It  is 
our  task  to  find  and  consciously  adopt  constructive 
ideals  sufficient  for  the  unifying  and  controlling  of 
these  many  social  achievements. 

In  the  past,  individual  inventive  genius  has 
added  improvement  after  improvement,  until  it 
would  seem  that  man's  mastery  over  nature  is  to 
be  well  nigh  complete,  as  these  ideas  and  inventions' 
are  socialized  and  extended  to  benefit  all.  But  with 
all  that  has  been  done,  socially  and  ethically,  the 
world  is  still  in  a  state  of  chaos  and  disorder.  In 
this  era  of  unparalleled  wealth,  we  are  faced  with 
the  fact  of  direful  poverty.  In  a  time  of  most  mar- 
velous triumphs  of  science,  a  vast  and  increasing  pro- 
letariat are  living  from  hand  to  mouth.  In  a  time 
of  most  widespread  intelligence,  the  world  is  wit- 
nessing the  most  horrible  and  destructive  of  wars. 
Civilization  seems  to  be  reaching  another  crisis  and 
it  would  seem  as  if  the  very  foundation  of  nations 
are  crumbling.  Truly  it  may  be  said  that  we  have 
not  yet  solved  the  problem  of  human  life  or  the  art 


250  WINNING  ORATIONS 

of  living  together.  Our  age  is  in  search,  not  so 
much  for  new  as  renewed  ideals,  ideals  adequate  to 
grip  and  guide  the  coming  age  must  be  found  and 
frankly  adopted.  Where  shall  we  look  for  these 
ideals? 

The  ideals  of  the  past  have  not  been  without 
their  value.  Since  life  is  continuous,  the  stream  of 
history  is  pouring  a  variety  of  ideals  and  traditional 
practices  into  our  present.  The  process  of  finding 
ideals  for  the  coming  age  adequate  to  meet  the  in- 
creasing needs  of  humanity  and  to  satisfy  all  the 
demands  of  progress,  will  be  partially  a  process  of 
discriminating  the  worthy  and  permanent  which 
comes  to  us  from  the  past. 

In  analyzing  this  past  it  is  possible  to  discern 
certain  distinct  streams  of  idealism.  From  ancient 
Egypt  comes  the  ideal  of  social  justice.  This  ideal 
has  been  inforced  and  made  a  part  of  a  rigid  pro- 
gram of  social  control  by  the  judgments  of  the 
"Book  of  the  Dead."  This  same  ideal  was  reinforced 
and  further  emphasized  by  the  great  prophets  of 
Israel.  "Let  justice  roll  down  like  waters  and  right- 
eousness as  a  perennial  stream"  is  the  injunction  of 
the  first  great  writing  prophet,  Amos.  The  epitome 
of  the  ethics  and  religion  of  the  Old  Testament  is 
set  forth  in  the  quotation  from  the  prophet  Micah 
which  ex-president  Eliot  of  Harvard  selected  to 
adorn  the  Column  to  Religion  in  the  Library  of  Con- 
gress at  Washington:  "What  doth  the  Lord  require 
of  thee  but  to  do  justly,  to  love  mercy  and  to  walk 
humbly  with  thy  God?"  This  ideal  of  social  justice 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  251 

has   been  a  forceful  check   on   exploitation   of  the 
weak  by  the  strong  through  all  the  course  of  history. 

The  paramount  ideal  of  classical  Greece  is  that 
of  self-realization.  A  sound  mind  in  a  sound  body, 
free,  developed,  happy,  expressing  life  in  the  fullest 
fashion,  is  the  prevailing  ideal  wrought  out  by  these 
ancients.  It  is  not  altogether  without  its  truth  and 
value.  But  it  falls  short  in  that  it  develops  self- 
assertiveness  and  is  in  that  measure  anti-social.  Its 
measurable  realization  in  ancient  times  was  only 
possible  by  the  inslavement  of  the  masses  and  leisure 
for  the  few.  Coming  into  our  age  and  combining 
with  the  conception  of  the  survival  of  the  fittest,  it 
has  wrought  great  damage  in  the  social  order,  and 
has  been  the  tacit  excuse  for  ruthless,  over-reaching 
personal  ambition.  If  combined  with  an  adequate 
social  ideal,  this  ideal  of  self-realization  is  fraught 
with  wondrous  possibilities  for  the  human  race.  It 
must  be  modified  and  redeemed  by  an  ideal  whose 
essence  is  at  once  ethical  and  altruistic. 

It  is  from  a  fulfillment  rather  than  a  laying 
aside  of  these  ethical  ideals  of  the  past  that  we  find 
our  ideals  for  the  coming  age.  It  is  also  necessary 
that  we  see  them,  state  them  and  frankly  adopt 
them  in  form  suited  to  the  changed  world  in  which 
we  live  and  work.  Our  ideals  must  both  be  for  the 
individual  and  for  the  social  order,  and  must  be  ap- 
plicable to  the  complex  life  in  which  we  now  live 
ard  which  will  become  more  complex  as  the  years 
pass  by. 

The  first  ideal  which  we  must  fully  adopt  with 
all  its  implications,  is  that  of  the  supreme  worth  of 


252  WINNING  ORATIONS 

personality.  Our  age  is  cursed  with  many  reminders 
of  cruelty  and  tyranny  left  over  from  the  past  ages 
which  place  things  above  persons.  There  are  tra- 
ditions and  laws  which  are  often  reverenced  and 
held  in  higher  regard  than  the  human  soul.  "What 
shall  it  profit  a  man  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and 
lose  his  life."  Or,  "What  shall  a  man  give  in  ex- 
change for  his  life"  are  simple,  yet  significant  state- 
ments of  the  value  of  the  soul.  Institutions,  law, 
religion  itself,  exist  to  serve  and  minister  to  human 
life. 

"Behold  the  midnight   splendor,   worlds   on   worlds, 
Ten  thousand — add  twice  ten  thousand  more 
Then  weigh  the  whole — 
One  soul  outweighs  them  all." 

Yet  there  are  practices  in  industry  which  hold 
human  life  cheap.  The  working  man  is  often  spoken 
of  as  a  "hand,"  and  is  known  almost  entirely  by  num- 
ber. What  goes  on  in  his  life,  the  sorrows  and  joys 
of  himself  and  family,  are  of  little  or  no  account  in 
the  estimation  of  those  who  place  profits  ahead  of 
happiness  and  dividends  ahead  of  human  life.  Busi- 
ness, which  is  frankly  utilitarian,  must  be  brought 
under  the  control  of  the  conception  of  service — ser- 
vice of  human  needs.  Any  ideal  or  program  for 
progress  will  fail  that  does  not  have  as  its  funda- 
mental doctrine,  the  worth  of  the  human  soul. 

Another  ideal  which  is  in  a  measure  a  corollary 
of  the  first,  is  the  ideal  of  democracy — spiritual,  in- 
tellectual, political,  and  industrial.  This  also  is  one 
of  the  ideals  of  the  coming  age  and  when  clearly 
understood,  will  work  wonders  to  bring  about  the 
conditions  for  which  it  hopes.  Already  we  have 
established  in  modern  civilization,  the  conception  of 
spiritual  democracy  or  the  competency  of  the  in- 
dividual soul  in  the  presence  of  truth  and  reality. 
We  guarantee  intellectual  freedom  and  our  school 
system  is  based  upon  the  belief  that  education  should 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  253 

be  democratic  and  accessible  to  all.  From  the  kin- 
dergarten to  the  university,  society  makes  adequate 
provision  not  for  a  privileged  few,  but  for  all  whose 
capacity  makes  possible  a  share  in  learning  and  cul- 
ture. The  state  is  no  longer  the  ruler  who  claims 
to  rule  by  divine  right,  but  it  is  the  sovereign  people 
with  whom  all  political  authority  ultimately  rests. 
Today  we  are  feeling  our  way  into  the  conviction 
that  the  ideal  of  democracy  has  even  wider  appli- 
cations. 

Will  we  dare  extend  this  ideal  to  include  the  en- 
tire social  process,  especially  to  industry?  Many 
employers  have  already  made  their  employees 
sharers  in  the  profits  of  industry  which  their  toil  is 
helping  to  create.  This  is  a  great  step  in  advance. 
A  further  step  needs  to  be  taken:  to  give  the  men 
who  toil  a  share  in  the  control  and  management 
of  the  industry  with  which  their  lives  are  so  closely 
associated.  On  the  principle  of  "no  taxation  without 
representation,"  representatives  of  the  workers 
would  sit  in  council  with  the  directors  to  manage  the 
enterprise  and  a  close  bond  of  good-will  and  co-oper- 
ation would  be  formed  in  industry.  The  solution  of 
the  labor  problem  is  in  the  extension  of  democracy. 
This  ideal  is  one  of  the  constructive  forces  of  the 
coming  age. 

A  third  ideal  closely  related  to  the  other  is  that 
of  human  brotherhood.  It  has  been  the  dream  of 
nation  after  nation,  race  upon  race,  to  dominate 
and  control  the  world  and  impose  its  civilization  and 
culture  on  all  mankind.  Such  dreams  of  conquest 
and  vanity  have  caused  perpetual  strife.  The  pas- 
sion for  commercial  supremacy  has  led  to  innumer- 
able wars.  But  soon  the  time  has  come  for  a  full 
and  sincere  adoption  of  the  ideal  of  humanity  as  one 
in  interest  and  destiny  united  in  the  family  of  God. 


254  WINNING  ORATIONS 

Wars  are  not  a  necessity.  There  is  nothing  in 
the  nature  of  strife,  even  international  strife,  that 
cannot  be  satisfactorily  adjusted.  If  nations  can 
agree  to  establish  war  as  their  arbiter  of  peace, 
why  can  they  not  establish  a  more  peaceful  sub- 
stitute? It  is  possible.  Nations  must  adopt  the 
principle  of  action  which  has  come  to  be  so  prevalent 
in  the  governing  of  the  relations  of  individuals.  They 
must  be  more  concerned  to  give  justice  than  to  de- 
mand rights.  This  world  can  never  attain  its  high- 
est standard  of  civilization  until  this  one  disgrace- 
ful blemish  called  war  is  obliterated.  It  is  the  task 
of  the  coming  age  to  create  institutions  which  will 
maintain  world  peace  and  prevent  the  recurrence 
of  war. 

These  three  ideals,  the  supreme  worth  of  every 
personality,  the  extension  of  democracy  into  all  in- 
dustrial and  social  life,  and  the  realization  of  the 
brotherhood  of  man,  must  be  made  the  unifying  and 
controlling  ideals  of  the  coming  age. 

Who  will  champion  these  ideals?  In  the  mili- 
tant Messianic  Psalm  of  David,  where  the  forces  of 
righteousness  are  being  rallied,  is  found  this  signif- 
icant attestation  of  the  spiritual  qualities  found  in 
youth:  "Thy  people  shall  be  volunteers  in  the  day 
of  Thy  strength,  and  out  from  the  beauty  of  holi- 
ness came  forth  Thy  young  men  and  maidens,  fresh 
with  the  dew  of  their  youth."  College  men,  and 
College  women,  we  must  champion  these  ideals. 
We  who  are  to  live  in  the  next  age  have  the  op- 
portunity above  all  others  to  stand  for  human  value, 
human  happiness  and  human  salvation.  These  ideals 
are  worthy  of  the  ambitions  of  our  college  students. 
We  stand  on  vantage  ground  of  centuries.  From  us 
will  be  demanded  vastly  more  than  from  men  of  the 
past,  for  these  many  opportunities  are  our  respon- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  255 

sibilities.     Let  us  make   these   ideals  our  door  to 
progress. 

These  are  days  when  the  personification  of  an 
ideal  is  especially  potent.  Mankind  has  always 
been  better  able  to  understand  and  follow  a  person- 
alized ideal  than  an  abstract  statement.  Where 
shall  we  look  for  the  personal  leader  in  the  coming 
age?  These  three  ideals  are  all  in  the  substance 
of  the  ethical  ideals  of  the  Prophet  of  Galilee.  He 
emphasized  the  supreme  worth  of  the  individual.  He 
established  a  spiritual  democracy  for  his  fraternity 
of  followers,  and  He  was  the  first  Prince  of  Peace. 
He  not  only  taught  these  ideals  but  gave  his  life 
for  them.  What  more  pathetic  picture  in  all  history 
than  this?  The  Christ,  with  a  crown  of  thorns  on 
his  head,  scourged  by  Roman  soldiers,  mocked  and 
railed  at  by  the  fickle  and  frenzied  mob,  deserted 
by  his  friends,  nailed  to  the  cross  between  two 
thieves,  yet  dying  with  these  loving  words  of  for- 
giveness on  his  lips — "Father,  forgive  them  for  they 
know  not  what  they  do."  Surely,  the  leader  and 
personalized  ideal  of  the  coming  age  must  be  the 
Nazarene  who  not  only  taught  these  ideals  but  lived 
them  and  gave  his  life  that  we  might  have  them  as 
ours.  He  gathers  up  and  fulfills  all  that  is  best  in 
the  past  of  any  people  and  raises  to  new  power  and 
effectiveness  the  highest  hopes  for  all  mankind.  To 
Him  we  must  look  and  in  Him  we  must  trust  for  the 
ideals  of  the  coming  age. 


PEACE  CONTESTS 
THE  MODERN  PARADOX 

(FRANCIS    CASE,    DAKOTA    WESLEY  AN    UNIVERSITY 

This  oration  received  first  place  at  the  National  Oratorical 
Contest  of  the  Intercollegiate  Peace  Association  held  at  Lake 
Mohonk,  New  York,  May  18,  1916.) 


We  are  witnessing  the  greatest  paradox  of  all 
history.  Five  years  ago  war  was  declared  im- 
iwesible — today  the  greatest  nations  of  the  globe  are 
in  arms.  Three  years  ago  poet  and  prophet  vied 
with  each  other  for  the  honor  of  first  having  pro- 
claimed the  era  of  peace,  the  age  of  arbitration — 
today  poet  and  prophet  are  silent,  overwhelmed  and 
chagrined  by  the  era  of  barbarism,  the  age  of  war. 
In  May,  1914,  orators  of  the  Intercollegiate  Peace 
Association  pointed  in  glowing  terms  to  the  third 
Hague  Tribunal  extending  the  olive  branch  to  the 
nations  of  every  land.  In  September  of  the  same 
year  the  bloody  hand  of  Mars  flaunted  its  red  banner 
from  the  burning  heat  of  desert  sand  to  the  biting 
beasts  of  Alpine  peaks. 

There  was  talk  of  peace,  but  preparation  for 
war.  While  press  and  pulpit  were  thus  spreading 
the  glad  tidings  of  world  peace,  potentates  and 
princes  planned  and  put  into  execution  the  bitterest 
conflict  of  time,  pawning  men  for  power,  justice  for 
policy  and  decency  for  chance  of  gain;  all  in  a  des- 
perate gamble  of  diplomacy.  With  what  result?  To- 
day over  hills  and  valleys,  once  as  peaceful  as  these 
Catskills,  over  water  once  as  placid  as  Lake  Mohonk, 
Mars  now  reigns  in  fiendish  mockery  supreme  over 
our  boasted  twentieth  century  civilization. 

No  wonder  that  confused  and  bewildered,  un- 
able to  comprehend  the  reality  of  the  tragedy, 
humanity  is  asking  "How  can  it  be?"  "Are  the 


258  WINNING  ORATIONS 

visions  of  prophets  and  bards  but  empty  dreams?" 
"Are  the  plans  of  peace  propagandists  but  pro- 
ducts of  idle  fancy?"  "Are  treaties  but  mere 
scraps  of  paper  when)  national  honor  is  in 
question?"  But  the  irony  of  the  situation  con- 
fronts us  when  we  realize  that  if  you  and  I  were 
asked  to  state  our  position  on  war  this  evening, 
we  would  record  ourselves  as  opposed  to  it,  and 
yet,  if  tomorrow  a  call  should  be  issued  for 
volunteers  to  defend  the  nation's  honor  in  Mexico, 
we  might  be  found  among  the  first  to  enlist. 

That  is  the  paradox  we  face.  War,  despised  and 
condemned  by  individuals,  yet  upheld  and  sustained 
by  nations.  Convicted  by  reason,  yet  prolonged  by 
passion.  Without  sanction  of  man  or  mind,  yet  it 
remains  the  most  vital  force  in  the  world  today. 

In  our  search  for  the  truth,  let  us  note  how  wars 
originate.  From  the  small  groups  of  primitive 
times,  men  of  common  birth,  of  common  character- 
istics, and  of  common  language  have  grown  into 
nations  of  thousands  and  millions,  within  which 
codes  of  personal  arbitration  have  been  developed. 
But  due  to  jealousy  in  their  relations  with  each 
other,  these  nations  have  resorted  to  pretense,  in- 
trigue, and  secret  diplomacy,  upon  the  pretext  of 
upholding  national  honor.  A  misunderstanding 
arises.  Diplomatic  relations  are  severed.  And  im- 
mediately militarists  and  mis-informed  patriots, 
crying  "our  courttry  right  or  wrong"  extol  the 
glories  of  a  military  conquest.  And  the  country, 
conscious  only  of  an  injured  pride,  forgetting  the 
lessons  of  the  past,  rushes  to  arms. 

Now  this  is  done  all  the  more  easily  because 
from  our  earliest  childhood,  romanticists  have 
pictured  to  us  the  glories  of  war  on  the  one  hand, 
and  have  lamented  the  commonplaces  of  peace  on 
the  other.  We  have  been  taught  to  look  for  the 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  259 

deeds  of  daring  and  valor  in  their  highest  excellence 
only  upon  the  battlefield.  While  men  have  been 
executed  for  murdering  individuals,  nations  have 
been  glorified  for  slaughtering  thousands.  The 
walls  of  our  schoolhouses  and  art  galleries  have  been 
decorated  with  pictures  of  romantic  warfare — gal- 
lant Sheridans  on  galloping  chargers.  But  the 
pictures  of  real  warfare  are  never  portrayed — 
crippled  men,  ravaged  fields  and  desolate  homes. 
Troops  on  dress  parade  march  to  the  tune  of  the 
Marseillaise.  But  troops  on  the  field  of  carnage 
fight  to  the  infernal  music  of  cannon,  to  the  sound 
of  bullets  ripping  in  human  flesh.  We  have  been 
taught  to  honor  the  man  who  invents  some  new 
death-dealing  device,  while  we  pass  by  the  man  who 
invents  for  the  happiness  of  mankind. 

What  can  the  glory  of  war  mean  to  the  soldier, 
smothered  by  asphyxiating  clouds  of  death?  Where 
is  the  grandeur  of  the  charge,  when  electric  wires 
stretch  man  and  beast  lifeless,  when  hidden  mines 
erupt,  hurling  horse  and  rider  into  unrecognizable 
atoms  to  mingle  with  flying  earth  and  stone. 

Are  we  so  destitute  of  reason  that  he  represents 
the  highest  degree  of  patriotism  whose  body  is 
mangled  by  shell  or  shattered  by  shrapnel?  Is  it  a 
greater  measure  of  devotion  to  die  for  one's  country 
than  to  live  for  it? 

But  we  are  lured  by  striking  phrases.  Peace- 
loving  citizens  are  told  that  national  honor  is  no 
fit  subject  for  arbitration.  Inflamed  jingoists  brush 
aside  calm  investigation.-  In  Great  Britain  they 
glory  over  the  thought  of  a  red-coated  England 
charging  on  the  field  of  Waterloo,  and  they  forget 
that  a  ragged  England  was  grinding  out  its  life  in 
the  factories  to  furnish  the  wealth  that  paid  for 
the  victory. 


260  WINNING  ORATIONS 

So-called  statesmen  inform  us  that  we  need  a 
large  navy  to  increase  and  protect  our  commercial 
prestige.  Yet  after  careful  investigation,  Norman 
Angell  declared  that  relative  to  population,  defense- 
less Norway  has  a  carrying  trade  equal  to  three 
times  that  of  Great  Britain,  boasted  mistress  of  the 
seas;  that  England  might  build  twenty  dreadnaughts 
and  not  sell  so  much  as  a  pen-knife  the  more  in  con- 
sequence. 

Over  and  over  again  history  records  that  the 
cost  of  war  is  in  vain,  that  might  often  triumphs 
over  right,  that  the  true  nobility  of  a  people  lies 
not  in  its  capacity  to  fight,  but  in  its  capacity  to 
secure  human  happiness,  and  that  in  the  end,  patient 
negotiation  has  ever  been  the  most  satisfactory 
arbiter  of  international  differences.  Will  mankind 
ever  apply  the  teaching  of  experience?  Will  reason 
ever  rule  the  international  mind?  Will  world  peace 
ever  triumph? 

There  should  be  no  more  any  misgiving  re- 
garding the  unmitigated  curse  of  war.  Its  devilish- 
ness  is  compromised  by  no  virtue.  Economically 
it  means  waste;  morally  it  means  iniquity;  indus- 
trially it  means  stagnation;  and,  nationally  it  means 
annihilation.  Condemned  by  every  standard  of 
reason — yet  it  exists  because  of  international 
jealousy  fostered  by  ignorance  and  the  lack  of  true 
convictions  on  the  part  of  the  people.  This  false 
standard  of  honor,  this  unequal  presentation  of  the 
truth,  this  subterfuge  of  national  defense  is  re- 
sponsible for  that  condition  of  the  public  mind  which 
permits  soldiers  to  be  levied,  armaments  to  be  in- 
creased, war  to  be  declared,  and  nations  to  fight. 

Just  as  long  as  military  devotion  to  one's 
country  is  the  criterion  of  patriotism,  just  so  long 
must  international  peace  be  delayed.  Real  patri- 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  261 

otism  must  come  to  mean  more  than  mutilation  of 
human  beings.  Real  national  honor  must  be  based 
upon  justice  and  not  power. 

War  is  the  product  of  ages,  the  growth  of 
centuries.  We  cannot  suppose  that  any  scheme  will 
be  able  at  a  single  operation  to  legislate  it  out  of 
existence,  for  no  scheme  is  stronger  or  better  than 
the  public  opinion  which  supports  it.  The  Hague 
Tribunal  was  forgotten  a  year  ago  last  August. 
Primary  to  all  plans  of  world-peace  based  upon  an 
international  police,  must  come  a  disillusionment  of 
the  popular  mind.  Peace  is  not  a  mere  cessation 
of  hostilities,  but  the  abolition  of  the  military 
spirit;  not  a  mere  contrivance  for  the  settlement 
of  disputes  between  nations  but  a  state  of  mind  in 
the  people  themselves. 

The  formula  then  for  a  real  peace  consists  in 
the  creation  of  a  proper  deep-seated  public  senti- 
ment against  war  in  its  every  phase.  Public  senti- 
ment removed  the  walls  from  our  cities.  Public 
sentiment  removed  the  fortresses  from  our  state 
lines.  And  public  sentiment  can  sweep  the  armadas 
from  the  seas  and  the  Cossacks  from  the  land. 

Christiansen  never  spoke  truer  than  when  in 
1905  he  declared:  "Every  government  is  in  its  last 
analysis  a  democracy.  Kings  may  reign  and  parlia- 
ments may  govern,  but  public  opinion  is  the  ulti- 
mate source  of  power.  Louis  XVI  ruled  when  France 
was  asleep.  France  awoke,  and  Louis  was  sent  to 
the  guillotine."  Therein  lies  the  solution  to  this 
paradox.  It  is  public  opinion  drugged  and  illusioned 
which  retains  war;  and  it  shall  be  public  opinion, 
freed  and  enlightened  which  shall  abolish  war. 

You  ask  me  for  my  program.  This — This  is  it — 
Unmask  War!  Abolish  this  false  standard  of 
honor!  Abandon  this  false  interpretation  of  war. 
Praise  of  martial  exploits  makes  for  militarism.  Do 


262  WINNING  ORATIONS 

not  reiterate  the  glories  of  war  in  times  of  peace 
and  expect  the  people  to  refrain  from  it  in  times  of 
crises.  Do  not  sow  the  seeds  of  militancy  and  ex- 
pect to  reap  a  harvest  of  brotherly  love.  Do  not 
fill  the  imaginative  mind  of  youth  with  thought  of 
martial  splendor  and  expect  the  mature  man  to  ar- 
bitrate for  the  sake  of  peace!  War  is  not  cause- 
less, but  senseless.  Tell  the  whole  tale.  Let  war 
be  known  for  the  farce  that  it  really  is.  Spread  to 
every  land  that  war  is  a  crime  of  high  treason 
against  humanity,  exceeded  only  by  the  criminality 
of  those  who  picture  it  as  honorable.  Strip  it  of 
sentiment.  Vote  appropriations  not  to  educate  for 
war,  but  to  educate  for  peace;  not  to  train  men  for 
fighting,  but  to  train  men  for  living.  Teach  it  not 
as  a  nation's  glory,  but  as  a  nation's  shame,  no 
longer  as  self-preservation,  but  self-destruction. 
The  best  defensive  policy  we  as  a  people  can  adopt 
is  to  work  for  the  dawn  of  lasting  peace.  Let  war 
stand  if  stand  it  can,  when  truth  be  known  in  its 
true  light — the  spectre  of  ages,  the  ghost  of  bar- 
barism, the  haunter  of  civilization,  the  personifica- 
tion of  "illegitimate  ambition,  debauched  conscience, 
treacherous  craft  and  national  tragedy." 

Rewrite  history  with  a  pen  dipped  in  the  foun- 
tain of  truth.  Forget  the  Gettysburgs  and  Water- 
loos!  Emphasize  the  national  highways,  the  indus- 
trial courts,  and  Panama  Canals!  Celebrate  the 
triumphs  of  peace.  Take  down  the  Caesars,  the 
Napoleons  and  the  Wellingtons  of  the  past.  Raise 
up  the  Maeterlincks,  the  Tolstoys  and  the  Glad- 
stones of  the  present.  Dethrone  the  god  of  war,  en- 
throne the  Prince  of  Peace. 

In  the  strength  of  these  ideals  this  phantom 
of  militarism  can  be  crushed.  Real  patriotism,  not 
passion;  universal  knowledge,  not  ignorance;  pride 
of  right,  not  might;  love  for  man,  not  envy — these 


SOUTH  DAKOTA  263 

are  the  virtues  of  truth.  These  are  the  true  stan- 
dards of  equity  and  justice.  These  spell  the  end  of 
international  jealousy.  These  bring  in  the  day  of 
promise.  These  usher  in  the  brotherhood  of  man — 
the  birth  of  world-peace. 

"Then  let  us  pray,  that  come  it  may 
As  come  it  will  for  all  that. 
That  sense  and  worth,  o'er  all  the  earth 
May  bear  the  crown  an*  a'  that. 

For  a*  that  an'  a'  that 
It's  coming  yet  for  a'  that, 
That  man  to  man  the  world  o'er 
Shall  brothers  be  for  a'  that" 


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